Mezameru
by xfallenangel13x
Summary: Yuugi is in a coma. His chances of survival balance on a mere mark of 35% How will his Yami cope when he thinks-no, when he KNOWS- that it is all his fault? (Sad Puzzleshipping. Enjoy :3)
1. Tsumi

**This was the very-first Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction I've ever written. Of course, with me being a fangirl, it's centered around Puzzleshipping. Don't hate. XD**

**All flames will be used to make yummy, toasted s'mores! :D**

* * *

**Title: **_Mezameru_

**Pairing:**_ Puzzleshipping (Yuugi/Yami)_

**Rating:**_ T_

**Genre:**_ Angst, Drama, Friendship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance_

**Full Summary:**_ Yuugi is in a coma. His chances of survival balance on a mere mark of 35% How will his Yami cope when he thinks-no, when he KNOWS- that it is all his fault?_

* * *

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor ANY characters in this story, unless noted otherwise. I DO, however, own the plot of it. The Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime belong to Kazuki Takahashi-san.**_

**_Please do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor recreate my hard work in any way._**

**_Or I will sic Yami on you_**

* * *

**_~ Chapter I ~_**

_Tsumi_

* * *

_Two lone figures stood in the darkness of a rainy Domino night. One would mistake them for twins at first glance; they seem so similar. Each was lanky, yet having some muscle definition. Atop their skulls jutted exotic crowns of pointed ebony hair, rimmed in maroon. Each man had crooked yellow tresses framing their faces nicely. The taller of the two (though only by a couple of inches) had these gravity-defying bangs arching up into the black and red. One with humor would see a striking resemblance between that of their hair and a brightly colored starfish. Smooth, flawless alabaster flesh glistened under rain and harsh streetlights._

_The artificial light gave the gloomy, storming atmosphere a sickly dull orange-brown hue. The taller, with naturally narrowed eyes and arms crossed, gazed down to the smaller with concern apparent in his stiff, confidant posture. "Aibou," a deep baritone rumbled through his chest. "What is wrong? Are you hurt?"_

_The smaller teenager shook his head hesitantly. His face was downcast, covered in darkly defined shadows. His companion tilted his head slightly, looking lost. What had his 'Aibou' so distraught that he wanted to speak now? Out in the rain and the cold? "Than what is troubling you, Hikari-mine?"_

_He saw a shiver travel down his aibou's slender form. Was that from the cold? Or... maybe fear? Fear of enemies unknown? Or, Ra forbid, fear of his taller friend?_

_Dark crimson softened to a tender scarlet, sweet and nurturing. "Yuugi," he murmured after a moment of tense silence. Said boy lifted his head slightly, expressive amethyst eyes wide. Was that rain or tears that lay their path across his smooth cheek? His little Light looked so lost and scared and vulnerable, like a lost kitten. The red-eyed man felt his heart melt at the sight. He had to try and comfort the boy..._

_But before his hand could cup the smaller's cheek so tenderly, Yuugi's small hand shot forward to catch his Darkness' wrist tightly. The one with red eyes stopped, looking both hurt and bewildered. "Aibou..?" he murmured, sound almost lost the that of the pounding rain._

_"Mou Hitori no Boku..." Yuugi breathed, eyes again downcast. "I-I... I love you." The boy's 'Mou Hitori no Boku' felt his breath catch. Before he could react, soft rosy lips encased his own in an almost desperate kiss. His heart fluttered. How long had the yami dreamt of a moment like this? He didn't even know._

_Before his stalled mind could register this amazing rush of emotion, he felt the warmth pull away. Yami had half a mind to growl in protest, but stopped dead at his hikari's face. Yuugi was staring at him with wide, heartbroken amethyst eyes. Tears pooled much more noticeably upon his thick, dark lashes as he looked away. "I knew you didn't feel the same," he gave a shuddering sob. "I'm sorry, Yami!"_

_Yuugi broke into a dead run, ignoring what quiet protests his Other managed to choke out. In a blind rush of emotional turmoil and heartache, the young Mutou was dead to his surroundings. He didn't hear the distant rumble of the engine, nor the growing haze of headlights speeding down the asphalt roadway._

_"Aibou!" Yami snapped in a panic, finally coming to his senses. He reached out, as if he could just pluck his partner from harm's way. Their eyes locked for a moment. Terrified violet met frantic crimson. For a millisecond that seemed to stretch for eternity, they gazed at one another..._

_A horn blared, and cold, rain-sleeked metal met flesh._

**_"YUUGI! NOO!"_**

* * *

The scene was on a constant reply inside the man's distraught mind. He sat in the waiting room of Domino General Hospital, Intensive Care Unit. Around him sat his and Yuugi's friends. Solemn-faced, they were all silent.

Jounouchi Katsuya, Honda Hiroto, Mazaki Anzu, and Bakura Ryou. Beside Anzu was Yuugi's only living relative; his grandfather, Mutou Sugoroku. The old man's blank expression made the yami's heart twist painfully. The bleary tears in this room were all his fault... _His fault..._

That damnable scene of his sinful silence flashed across Yami's consciousness yet again. His hands moved to snake pale fingers into his still-damp crown of hair. They had been waiting for nearly two hours now! What was taking so **LONG?!**

As if summoned by Yami's mental curses, a man in a white uniform walked out from behind swinging hospital doors. They all looked up. The Ph.D.'s face was grim. "How is he?" Yami demanded at once, standing abruptly. The doctor was silent, looking at a loss for words. "Answer me!"

Jounouchi came up behind his friend, placing a hand firmly on the distraught man's shoulder. He was shrugged away. "Where is my Aibou?!" he demanded, voice cracking with emotion. The medical professional looked a bit taken aback, but understanding, all at once.

"I'm sorry..." he muttered, eyes showing genuine sadness for the ones before him. "The damage done internally was to great. His body has gone into a comatose state. Estimations show a thirty-five percent chance of him regaining consciousness." Yami flinched back badly, as if the one before him were a venomous snake. His crimson eyes were wide with disbelief and horror and pain.

"Mr. Mutou is currently in room 37, but visiting hours are currently over. You can come and visit tomor-!" The medicine man broke off in surprise as the patient's look-alike dashed down the hallway.

"_Yams_'!" Joey exclaimed, he, Honda, and Ryou taking chase. The former spirit dodged around an unused gurney, quickly turning a corner. He ignore calls of both friends and hospital staff as the plaques next to each door steadily grew higher in number.

34, 35, 36- there it was!

He stopped in front of a secluded room marked '37', and opened the door quickly. The sights that awaited his hungrily searching eyes made the dark one's gut twist unpleasantly.

His aibou, his sweet little Yuugi, was lying motionless under a sterile white blanket, pulled tight at the corners. His arms were folded tranquilly over his front, let one in a loose sling. An oxygen mask was strapped over his face, wires and loose rubber fittings over his chest and fingers to take pulse and oxygenation of his bloodstream. He looked like an innocent fly caught in a spider's web from some sort of perverse sci-fi fantasy movie. Yami heard his three friends catch up, and stop dead behind him.

Yami stepped numbly forward, to his partner's bedside. His took a vague note of how badly his hand shook when he reached out to touch Yuugi's pale cheek. He sucked in a sharp breath as his fingers molded to cup the smaller's cheek hesitantly. His skin was warm, but it was cold at the same time. Lukewarm.

His thumb traced gingerly across the boy's cheekbone as a stinging dryness began to build behind his scarlet eyes.

_\Aibou?\_ Yami called through their bond, fearful of what response he would get. His thoughts bounced silently on into blackness. That familiar warmth of another's presence in the back of his mind was gone. Yuugi... was gone.

_\Aibou, please!\_ he begged again, eyes closing tightly, head downcast. Still no reply.

_\Mou hitori no ore!\_

Yami sucked in a hissing breath through clenched teeth. He was on the verge of a breakdown.

_\Hikari-mine Please, I _beg_ of you, ANSWER me!\_

Yami's shoulders slumped, and he sunk slowly to his knees. Moisture gathered in his thick, dark lashes. Crimson eyes glazed over in internal agony. _\Dammit Yuugi! **A**__**nswer me!**__\_ His mental plea croaked out quietly, under his breath. "_Please,_ Yuugi..." he murmured, almost inaudible.

His unoccupied fist clenched. The tears crested over his sharp cheeks, dripping down his chin. Yami gave a choked noise, and, for probably the first time in three millennia, the former Egyptian pharaoh began to cry.

* * *

**:(**

**I think I'm gonna limit updates on this one by reviews. Can I get five please? :D**

* * *

**R&R, Please!**


	2. Ikari

**Wow, you guys... You all just made my day!**

**Here I was, checking my email, not even a full 24 hours after uploading this story to FF, and BAM. 40 EMAILS. Most, if not ALL relating to reviews, and story follows/favs for THIS STORY ALONE.**

**YOU. GUYS. ARE. AWESOME. I really need to get my butt into gear and write these chapters in surplus, so you don't have to wait as long for updates! ;D**

* * *

**Title: **_Mezameru_

**Pairing:**_ Puzzleshipping (Yuugi/Yami)_

**Rating:**_ T_

**Genre:**_ Angst, Drama, Friendship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance_

**Full Summary:**_ Yuugi is in a coma. His chances of survival balance on a mere mark of 35% How will his Yami cope when he thinks-no, when he KNOWS- that it is all his fault?_

* * *

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor ANY characters in this story, unless noted otherwise. I DO, however, own the plot of it. The Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime belong to Kazuki Takahashi-san.**_

**_Please do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor recreate my hard work in any way._**

**_Or I will sic Yami on you_**

* * *

**WARNING(S): Swearing, Mild Violence and Blood**

* * *

_**~ Chapter II ~**_

_Ikari_

* * *

Yami turned on his side, unable to sleep. How _could_ he sleep? His Hikari was stuck in that Ra-damned hospital, in a freaking _coma_! All because of him.

Yami gave a quiet, bitter laugh at the irony. He was the one who was supposed to protect Yuugi from harm... And it was the boy's guardian who had driven him into that road. Into the path of that car. Into the hospital bed he rested in about eleven kilometers(1) away from here.

It's not like the small family hadn't been through enough, as it was.

Sugoroku Mutou, Yuugi's grandfather and only remaining relative, had been given legal custody over the boy when he was four, and his parents were killed in a car accident. His wife, Saya Mutou, had been suffering from pancreatic cancer at the time, and passed seven months later. Raising a child on what he earned from his out-of-home game store, they'd had their fair share of trials.

Yuugi was out of place from the start. He was imaginative, but shy and soft-spoken. A prime target for bullies. He'd survived on games and pure innocence to the cold world around him. It wasn't until about three or so years ago, when Yuugi finished the Sennen Puzzle and released Yami's soul from inside, that things began looking up. He made friends, saved his grandfather from certain doom, saved the world, and became the King of Games. Apparently, he'd _fallen in love_, too.

Yami groaned into his pillow, guilt swelling into a deep, uncontrollable rage. His fist tightened into the pillow, and he had the sudden **_need_** to hit something.

He smacked the top of his alarm clock as it sounded. **_Hard_**.

It would suffice... for now.

* * *

The morning went by in a blur of dull sounds and color and anxious faces. By this point, everyone had heard of his aibou's condition, what with him being the King of Games, and all...

He hated the glances. The stares. The pointing fingers and quiet whispers. "Can I _help_ you with something?" he snarled at a pair of girls who looked to be in their freshman year. They had been gawking at his back and whispering- quite _loudly_, if he may add. They gave quiet gasps, and quickly scurried away. Yami exhaled sharply, and shoved his belongings into his locker as the lunch bell rang. Taking a homemade bento box with him, the former spirit stormed outside.

The gloomy weather did little to raise his mood any. The sky was painted in morbid shades of black and gray, looming with the threats of another rainstorm. Cold wind whipped his untamable crown of hair backwards, conveniently pushing his jagged gold bangs from his eyes

He passed Jou, Honda, and Anzu, who called quiet greetings that were ignored. He didn't feel like talking. His crimson eyes flickered darkly, an aura of depression, worry, and deep rage radiating from his presence in waves. The Sennen Puzzle hung from his neck. Yuugi- he flinched internally at the name- had given it to his Yami when he'd gained his own body. A 'lucky charm', his little one had described it as...

* * *

_"Mou Hitori no Boku!" came a childlike voice, followed by rapid footsteps. A tall, pale man turned around to see a what looked to be a smaller copy of himself running up to him. Immediately taking the defensive, Yami met the boy halfway._

_"What is it, Yuugi?" he demanded, narrowed eyes searching the horizon for bullies or some ancient evil force lurking. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He was a little taken aback when his Hikari giggled. His pale hand lifted and rested on an equally pale wrist, who's hand was now gripped firmly over his left shoulder._

_"Nothing's wrong, Yami," he laughed, "I just wanted to get your attention." The faintest of pink blushes dusted the boy's rounded cheeks, making his large violet eyes seem even brighter than before. Yami tipped his head to the side._

_"Oh, what for?"_

_The blush darkened, while Yuugi reached behind his neck. "To give you this," his hands grabbed a chain, and he gently pulled a Millennium object from around his neck._

_It was solid gold, in the shape of a reverse pyramid. The point angled downwards, while a smooth surface (excluding a small loop, from which the chain was connected) formed the top. The smallest of indents were visible along the item's five three-dimensional surfaces, forming an intricate spider's web of confusing paths along both the outside, _and_ inside of the item. A puzzle. The Sennen Puzzle, unsolved for over three millennia, until one Yuugi Mutou did exactly that._

_Doing so had released Yami's spirit, which he had sealed away inside it to save the world back when he was a pharaoh in Ancient Egypt. He had been lost in the Darkness, until he had been rescued by Yuugi, his Light. His Aibou. His everything._

_Yuugi took Yami's hands in one of his own, and fanned the palms open. Within them, he placed the Puzzle that had taken him eight grueling years to finish, and three more avoiding being killed because of it. Yami's blood-red eyes widened. "Y... You're giving me the Puzzle?" he murmured quietly, hands still placed atop of his partner's._

_Yuugi nodded once, still all smiles and blushes. "It _was_ yours, originally," he relied softly, looking extremely shy. "It was supposed to belong to Egypt's pharaoh, so I figured it would only be right to return it to him."_

_"Yuugi-" Yami began, before being cut off._

_"Please, Pharaoh, I _want _you to have it," Yuugi said sweetly, an adorable pout on his face. "If not as a Pharaoh's belonging, than as a good luck charm." Again, the former spirit's eyes widened. "A... good-luck charm?" he echoed._

_They shared a small laugh at just how ironic the statement sounded- this damnable thing had nearly gotten them and their friends all killed _**several** _times before! "Yeah, sounds funny, doesn't it?" With a shrug, Yami clasped the chain across his own neck. He placed a hand on Yuugi's hair, and ruffled it affectionately._

_"Thank you, Aibou," Yami murmured, eyes glowing as Yuugi beamed sheepishly below him._

_"I shall wear it always."_

* * *

Yami stopped walking, standing by an ancient sakura tree, towards the middle of the schoolyard. His free hand reached up to clench the chain of his Millennium item, the side of his closed fist resting atop the cool gold surface. A deep well formed in his chest as he remembered that fateful night...

Why didn't he **_do_** anything?!

His bento was forgotten as his right hand dropped it. He swung at the tree's old bark, not registering any pain as the rough surface split his skin. Blood blossomed to the surface, its color catching Yami's eye. He was bleeding?

Sure enough, where he had hit the trunk was a smearing of his blood. This only frustrated him further. This anger, this self-hate, the raw fury was to much...

He's faced psychotic, murderous, magic-wielding monsters and took them down with stride, so why could he just...?!

Yami growled, hissing out a breath through clenched teeth. This fury made him feel like a time bomb, itching to be set off. He silently prayed that whoever reached the breaking point or him, it wasn't one of his or Yuugi's friends...

* * *

"Yo, Sennen!"

Said 'Sennen' stopped, not needing to turn to see who was calling him. Only **one** man alive had a voice _**that**_ annoying.

Ushio.

"Hey, Sennen, where's your little _fuck-toy_?" he laughed, the bellow making everyone stop. Faces peered nervously at Yami, whose face was frozen in shock. His scarlet eyes were dark, but wide, lips a thin line.

"Yeah, your _pet_ looked like a nice little plaything... At least, before he got hit by a truck!"

Yami's pupils contracted in pure rage. His fists squeezed shut. "If you were smart, Ushio..." he cautioned, control slipping. "you would shut the_ fuck_ up, turn around, and _never_ cross my path again." He heard the large man's mocking laughter.

"Ooh, I'm _**SO**_ scared! What're you gonna' do, Sennen, throw cards at me? _Ha_!"

"So, what'd you do, anyways, Yams'? Must've taken a lot to make that little runt run like that! Like seeing his reflection! Worthless little piss-ant would be better off dyin', anyways. One less _stain_ for me to look at each day."

The yami in front of him clenched his teeth, surfaces audibly gritting together. He began to shake, head downcast. "Shut up."

"Ooh, did I strike a nerve?" Ushio taunted further. Everyone around them stepped back a few paces. All eyes were still fixed on Yami.

"He liked games, yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Guess a little round of Hit-and-Run seemed fun. Or," he paused, obviously enjoying the way he made Yami react. "Should I say _'Run-and-Hit'_, since he was the one plowed down by a bumper?"

"_Shut up_!"

"And, you know what else, Sennen?" Ushio pressed just a little bit more, "It's all thanks to you! Good job, man! The little bastard_** NEEDS**_ the beauty sleep!"

**BIG** mistake.

Yami's head snapped up. His face was contorted in unfathomable rage, brows knitted together and deep shadows covering his face. His red eyes were a mixture of flaming red-amber, and a strange, dead indigo. A tear tracked down his pale cheek.

"**_I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP_****!**"

Before anyone could react, the teen's bag was off his shoulder, and swinging around to make contact with Ushio's ugly face. It hit its mark, making the big bully stumble. Yami let it drop to the ground, before charging with a cry of his fury.

He slammed into the other man's chest with his shoulder, sending the other reeling. With a sidesweep, Yami's leg caught the backs of Ushio's feet. He tumbled to the ground. Pouncing, Yami punched him square in the jaw. Then in the nose. Blood sprayed from the now-broken cartilege, and Ushio gave a howl of pain. Yami was now hefting him up by the shirt collar, and slamming his behemoth body against a set of lockers. One hand closed around his throat, danger gleaming in his eyes.

"Where the** fuck **did you get the **_balls _**to mention my Aibou's name in such a way?" he growled, forehead beginning to burn. The bully's eyes widened as his airway was cut off. "Yuugi is the greatest, most forgiving, innocent, and _beautiful_ soul I have ever come in contact with!"

The eye of Wadjet shone upon his forehead.

"He is my partner, my Light, my _everything_. He has been hurting by the hands of you and your so-called gang for far to long. _When_ he wakes up, if I **_ever_** hear you were bothering my Hikari again," he snarled, pausing for an effect. His hand squeezed tighter, and Ushio began to turn red. "I._ Will_.**_ K_****ill** you. Got it, you whiny little **_bitch_**?"

He felt hands begin tugging on his arms and shoulders, trying to pry him away from his little one's tormentor as he flailed and gasped in his iron grip. "In fact," he said, eyes narrowing dangerously, "let's make a game of it." Ushio choked, going onto purple in color.

"If I so much as _hear_ you've mentioned Yuugi's name, I will find you. And next time-!" he squeezed tighter still, for emphasis, "_No one_ will be around to _stop_ me!"

He released the bully, flexing his knuckles. They cracked loudly, and he settled the score by kicked the retching man in the small of his back. He shoved off the arms, Wadjet's Eye beginning to fade. "Consider yourself lucky that I didn't _Mind Crush_ you," he spat to the larger teen under his breath.

He picked up his bag, glare causing anyone he looked at to shy away. "_Young man_!"

Yami turned to set his dagger glare on Domino Highschool's principal. The man flinched ever so slightly, but straightened out his tie to cover it. "Come with me to my office. We are calling your guardian, and you are going into a _very long_ out-of-school suspension." he glowered.

Yami couldn't help it. A smirk broke out onto his face. He laughed, deep baritone voice making it sound all the more menacing. He put a faked lilt in his tone when he spoke. "Hey, I've got an idea!" he taunted, sounding as if he'd stumbled upon some wonderful revelation, "Why don't you fucking _make_ me?"

The forced smile dropped into his usual scowl, and he swung his bag around, to rest on one shoulder.

"Screw this. Suspend me. Expel me, if you want to. My Hikari needs his Yami." he hissed quietly. "Now," he shouldered rudely past the gathered group, "if you do not _mind_..." He cast his gaze over his shoulder, briefly locking eyes with Ushio. "I'm going to see Yuugi. Oh, and Ushio?"

Said man flinched, still gaping for oxygen.

"Try not to loose our little game. You know how much **_We_** love them." Everyone felt shivers go up and down their spines. A vague feeling told them that the 'We' in Yami's sentence wasn't referring to him and Ushio.

Yami walked away, unable to help the almost _evil_ laugh that left him as he pushed past the doors.

No, that 'We' was not meant for Ushio. Not at all.

* * *

**MWAHAHA! INSANE YAMI!**

**I loved how this chapter turned out, even if it is kinda short. XD**

* * *

**#1. Eleven (11) kilometers is equal to about seven (7) miles.**


	3. Kanashimi

**I know I said "15 Reviews", but 13 is close enough. I'm going to ask for 20 for the next chapter, okay? That's only 7! 7, and then you can have another chapter!**

**More angsty goodness!**

**Sorry if this chapter's quality is kinda low. I'm currently struggling through a writer's block **

**T~T**

* * *

**Title: **_Mezameru_

**Pairing:**_ Puzzleshipping (Yuugi/Yami)_

**Rating:**_ T_

**Genre:**_ Angst, Drama, Friendship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance_

**Full Summary:**_ Yuugi is in a coma. His chances of survival balance on a mere mark of 35% How will his Yami cope when he thinks-no, when he KNOWS- that it is all his fault?_

* * *

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor ANY characters in this story, unless noted otherwise. I DO, however, own the plot of it. The Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime belong to Kazuki Takahashi-san.**_

**_Please do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor recreate my hard work in any way._**

**_Or I will sic Yami on you._**

* * *

_**~ Chapter III ~**_

_Kanashimi_

* * *

Jounouchi Katsuya had been through just about anything one could find surprising.

He's been possessed by ancient Egyptian spirit, sucked into the Shadow Realm, had his soul stored inside his favorite monster card of Duel Monsters, seen his best buddy become 'overshadowed' by another (albeit much _nicer_) ancient Egyptian spirit, seen as his best pal's soul was sealed away by some freak with long seafoam green hair, saw as the soul of an ancient Pharaoh came back to life in flesh-and-blood, and just about everything else. So, he thought he would be prepared for _anything_ when he ditched the remainder of school and followed Yami to the hospital. He expected either solemn or pissed off expressions, vows of vengeance against whoever was dumb enough to land Yuug' in the hospital, or just that overall confidence that seemed to smother anyone else within a mile radius like obnoxious fumes.

What he _**DIDN'T**_ expect to see was a pale former pharaoh slouched over in a chair with eyes rivaling that of water faucets. The blonde walked inside with an almost cautious creep in his step. "Hey, Yami," he greeted quietly, closing the door behind him. Yami glanced up at him briefly. His expression showed a flicker of surprise, before hardening like stone. He discreetly wiped any hints of moisture from his face, and returned to his position; In an uncomfortable plastic chair at Yuugi's bedside, firmly holding one of the younger's limp hands in his own.

Jou leaned against the wall, propping one foot to press up against the clean, white-washed surface. The silence in the room (despite the sluggish beeps sounding from the heart monitor) was extremely awkward for the Brooklyn-accented highschooler. He looked over at the docile man at his best friend's bedside, eyes narrowed in thought. He had come here prepared to give the man a rather thorough tounge-lashing, no matter how badly he felt for the former spirit.

"So..." he started somewhat nervously, "You, uh, _really_ did a number on that oversized prick." Yami gave a terse nod, his face remaining stoic. Jou took the following quiet as a sign to continue.

"Not that I'm sayin' he didn't _deserve_ it... but I almost want to pity the guy," he relaxed a small breath. "I mean, yeah, he had it comin' to him for a long time, b-but..." He shuddered in a mixture of fear and outrage. "Yami, you almost crushed the guy's windpipe."

Yami looked up, scarlet eyes cold and unforgiving. He rose one brow in a quizzical, but disinterested, expression. "_So?_" he grumbled with a voice completely void of emotion. Jou's eyes widened in something akin to disbelief.

"SO?" he echoed, words having the smallest of tremors to them. Yami merely blinked.

"SO, Yami, you could've _**killed**_ him!" the teen prompted with a growl. "I know he's said and done some bad things- _Hell_, I wish it was _**ME**_ who choked him out today- but you nearly crushed his _throat_, Yam'! That would have _killed_ him!" He repeated the statement twice, trying to drill that notion through this pharaoh's surprisingly thick skull. Yami merely looked away.

"And?"

Jou just about exploded. "AND, think about this, _**Pharaoh**_," he basically spat the word 'Pharaoh' like a venomous cobra. "Do you think Yuugi would've been happy if he found out you _killed_ someone at his expense? I so **NOT** think so!" It was Yami's turn to burst.

"You wouldn't _know_ what _my_ Aibou wants!" his shoulders set in a rigid defensive stance, and began to shake (Though he knew as much as Jounouchi did that Yuugi would have been _devestated_ if he found out what Yami had done that day). Jou saw a variety if conflicting emotions cross the sharply defined face across from him. He head fell to stare at his clenched fists. Jounouchi could sense something was deeply wrong with his friend.

"Yams'?" he murmured, pushing off the wall to advance towards the man a few paces. "What's eatin' ya', man?" He stopped when he reached about halfway across the room, hands shoved into his uniform jean pockets. He saw lips move, but no sound reached his ears. "Come again?"

Yami looked up. Jou felt his heart both freeze and get stabbed by a metaphorical flaming knife all at once. The once-proud leer of a brazen, self-confident former pharaoh of ancient Egypt now looked just as his current form was. A mortal child, who's best friend was stuck comatose in the hospital. Scared, and lost, not knowing what to do. And that shook Jounouchi to the core.

Yami was _scared_. _No_- he was _**TERRIFIED**_.

Not even an hour ago, the man had been squeezing the life out of one of the largest, most feared bullies in Domino High. Now he looked like a kid who had lost his mother in the supermarket. Yami blinked slowly, as if even that took vast amounts of energy.

"This is all fault," he repeated, loud enough for the honeybrown-eyed teen to hear. Jou scowled.

"Will you quit _**sayin'**_ that?_ None_ if this is your fault, Yami! None. Of. It! Why do you _insist_ on beatin' yourself up about this so much?!" Yami crossed his arms on the bed, and leaned heavily into it.

"Because it is," he murmured simply.

"No, it's _**NOT**_!" Jou snapped. "Honda n' Anzu an' me couldn't stop Yuug' from gettin' hit, but we aren't_ chokin' people twice our size half to death_ about it!" Jou stormed closer, voice edging on desperation. "Why do ya' keep sayin' it's yer fault?"

Yami stood up abruptly, face holding a look of unfathomable pain and sorrow and self-loathing as he glared into his best friend's eyes. "Because _**I'm**_ the reason he ran into that Ra-damned street!"

Jounouchi recoiled slightly at the outburst, but still had a determined look on his face. "What, didja _throw_ 'im inta' the middle of tha' street?" he growled through clenched teeth. Yami grimaced, looked away.

"I might as well have..." he muttered sadly. Jou tilted his head in a rather puppy-like fashion, confusion expressed on his face. "He... Yuugi, he... He told me something_ very_ personal, and important... And I just-just SAT there."

Jou felt realization dawn over him like a ton of bricks. "He... He finally told you, d-didn' he?" the blond whispered, eyes wide. Yami looked up.

"To-Told me what?"

Jou sighed, brows tilting in a look of sorrow. "That he loves you."

Pain flashed across Yami's face, and he swatted at a pesky cluster of tears upon his thick lashes. "He kissed me after he did, and I just _stood there_. I didn't know how to react! A-And then he..." his arm jerked to the side in a gesture of unknown meaning, but Jounouchi nodded. "Before I could do anything... And the car..."

He sat heavily down into his chair. "A-And now I'll never be able to tell Aibou how sorry I am. And how I feel about him, as well..."

Jou reached over and clasped his hand reassuringly over the distraught teen's. "Hey, pal, it'll be alright. Ya' can tell 'im his much he mean to ya' when he wakes up! It shouldn't be to long, now!" He said with a carefree lilt in his voice.

Yami only shook his head, and hid his face in a hand. "No, Katsuya," he murmured brokenly, choking back a sob. "Yuugi... H-He stopped responding to outside stimulus last night." Jou's grip tightened subconsciously as fear gripped his heart. "They're giving him until Sunday. If he doesn't show improvement, Jii-chan will have no choice but t-to..."

A shattered sob escaped the pale man's chest. Katsuya Jounouchi felt chills race up and down his spine at the sound. _'Four days...'_ he thought, feeling moisture finally pool into his own honeybrown gaze.

Yami had now gingerly snaked his arms around Yuugi's healing form, shoulders heaving with sobs. "Aibou, I'm so _sorry_!" he cried, tears running down sharp alabaster cheeks. "Please, Yuugi... _please_! Just wake up!"

Jounouchi was silent as Yami's mantra of apologies and pleas for Yuugi to reawaken echoed around the sterile white room. He was aware of a sympathetic nurse briefly peeking in the door's window as she passed, eyes shining with unsure tears at the sound of Yami's mourning whimpers. But inside, Jou knew that the former spirit was screaming. Howling, bellowing, wailing with all the strength his mind could muster. He heard his unspoken sentences, and the usually headstrong blond into a fetal position to sob his heart out along with his friend.

Yami was suffering much more than he let on. Because, inside, he was screaming. He was _dying_, right alongside Yuugi.

_**'I can't live without you, Aibou!'**_

* * *

**How did you guys like this chapter? Not to thrilled with it, but I still find it worth uploading, sooo... XD**

**I rewrote this thing, like two, three times before I got it right XD**

**And, to make it better, I wrote it to Avril Lavigne's "Slipped Away" I find it fits this story quite well xD**

**(Lol I finished writing this in the middle of class today XDDD)**


	4. Tojikomerareta

**Yay! Only three more chapters left! :3**

**And ignore the derp time-skip. I didn't really want to bore you guys with pointless crappily written filler chapters. cuz I suck at those lol.**

* * *

**Title: **_Mezameru_

**Pairing:**_ Puzzleshipping (Yuugi/Yami)_

**Rating:**_ T_

**Genre:**_ Angst, Drama, Friendship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance_

**Full Summary:**_ Yuugi is in a coma. His chances of survival balance on a mere mark of 35% How will his Yami cope when he thinks-no, when he KNOWS- that it is all his fault?_

* * *

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor ANY characters in this story, unless noted otherwise. I DO, however, own the plot of it. The Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime belong to Kazuki Takahashi-san.**_

**_Please do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor recreate my hard work in any way._**

**_Or I will sic Yami on you_**

* * *

**WARNING(S): Suicidal/Depressing Thoughts, Mild Swearing**

* * *

_**~ Chapter IV ~**_

_Tojikomerareta_

* * *

Four days quickly turned to three. Three slid into two. And two... well, two was slowly, ominously creeping its path to one last day. But, for now, Yami had two days left. Two precious, all-to-short sunrises and sunsets. And he spent all of those days, shut away with Yuugi in hospital room #37, holding his hand in a solemn silence. The nurses and he were on a first-name basis now. They convinced him to go home, for a few hours at least, and rejuvenate. They coaxed him into going to the hospital cafeteria to eat. They brought the bad news of Yuugi's lack of response to their treatments.

But Yami didn't hold them responsible. No, it was HIS fault his Little One was here, wasting away on a 35% survival rate. _'Oh, Hikari,'_ he thought sadly, rubbing his thumb in small circles over the back of Yuugi's pale hand, _'What I would do to be replacing you in this damnable place.'_ He brushed a lock of limp golden hair behind Yuugi's left ear, when the soft opening of a door breached his dulled senses.

Yami looked up to see a friendly young woman, in her late 20s, walk inside with a clipboard in-hand. She was around five-foot-six, with an hourglass figure and long, auburn hair that pooled around her shoulders in neat ringlets. Her doe-like eyes shone with a sad greeting. "Ohayõgozaimasu, Yami-san," she said kindly, closing the door behind her as she entered.

Yami offered her a polite smile, though he knew it lacked any real happiness. "Ohayõ, Shizumi-san," he returned evenly. Shizumi Nagasaki was Yuugi's personal nurse. She ran tests and checked up on the conditions of his healing wounds and sent results of his brain wave activities to the higher-ups for diagnosis.

They still say he'll never wake up. But... But he _will_. Yuugi was a strong young man. He'd pull through, just fine. _'He _has_ to...'_

Yami kindly (though reluctantly) left his Aibou's bedside, and stood safely at the side of the room. He patiently, though a bit tensely, for the young woman to take her usual notes, etcetera, on his little one's condition. She faltered when she went to leave the room, hesitantly glancing at Yami over her shoulder.

He edged closer to his post at Yuugi's bedside, gazing at her with sad, yet questioning crimson eyes. She bit her lip, and sighed, looking away again.

"They... They say one of the last senses a person looses is the ability to hear..." she murmured quietly, and Yami tipped his head curiously to the side. "It's said to be like that so... so that, e-even if they're unconscious when they pass away, the person can still hear their friends and family say goodbye, and that they love them."

And without another word, Nagasaki-san left the room.

Yami stood there for a moment, staring blankly at the space the nurse had been seconds before. He pondered over her words. Had Yuugi been hearing him this entire time? He dared to feel the hope spike in his chest.

_Could he convince his partner to reawaken?_

Returning to his vigil at his Light's side, Yami hesitated before taking a limp hand in his own once again. He squeezed it gently, fighting back another surge of tears. _'Ie_,' he decided mentally, posture straightening, _'I've done far to much of that lately. I must be strong for Yuugi_.' His grip strengthened slightly, eyes growing softer.

He brushed the fingers of his free hand over his aibou's cheek, sighing. He knew he shouldn't get his hopes up... but, it was worth a shot, right?

"_Aibou_," he murmured quietly, "I-I don't know if you can hear me, but..." Yami's voice failed him. It cracked, and fell into silence. Guilt still seethed and boiled at his heart with the fury of the Gods, Themselves. He knew he wouldn't have to resort to such desperate measures if he had just _told_ Yuugi sooner-!

"But, no matter what, Yuugi, I... I love you. Aishiteru. So, so much. And I am so sorry, for putting you through such pain. I... I should have told you sooner," his hand squeezed Yuugi's own more desperately.

"It's all my _fault-!"_ he choked quietly, vainly attempting to stem off the moisture that gathered in his cerise gaze. "Yuugi, co-come back!"

His free hand hit the metal siding of the hospital bed, clenched into a tight fist. "It should have been _me_, not_ him_!" he muttered bitterly, hating himself more with every passing second. It was by his own, selfish cowardice that his beloved was here, in this bed. Covered in bruises and scratches, wires and tubes feeding off of his skin like a perverse spider's web. "_I-It's not fair!"_

**_\Aibou, my aibou, I'm so sorry! Please, koi... _Please_, just open your eyes, so I can see your beautiful face smile again.\_**

His prayers went unheard.

Yami's mind felt cold without his little one's light to fill the void his shadows had created. Darkness needed Light to survive. For a long while, when the Puzzle had first been solved, Yami had thought of Yuugi as mere vessel. But he was wrong- so very _wrong_.

Now he couldn't bare to imagine life without the boy at his side. Whether it be talking, Duelling, walking to school... just the very idea if Yuugi not being**_ there_**, it made Yami want to vomit. "This is all my fault..."

Then, for a split second, an idea hit him. A twisted, sick idea, crafted from the fogs of grief and desperation.

_'Would the Gods take a soul, in return for a soul? Mine, for Yuugi's? An-An exchange! Could they- _would_ they make an exchange?!'_

He froze, allowing the thought to ricochet through his mind for a few moments. He was about to berate himself further, when something shot through his system. It was almost painful, but not unbearably so. Like stepping on something mildly pointy, or badly stubbing a toe. _**(A/N: Which can actually hurt like a little bitch xD)**_ It wasn't verbal, nor an exact emotion. More... a _sense_ of something. Like, when he and Yuugi used to send mental hugs to-

He froze again. A mental hug. A despairing, forlorn embrace over his senses. He could practically **hear** someone squeezing his breath away and screaming _"Ie!"_ to his face.

It faded quickly as it had appeared, leaving the former spirit wondering if he had even felt the presence at all. Another idea struck him.

Yami took the Sennen Puzzle from around his neck, and carefully looped it over Yuugi's. He felt a small tingle of... something he couldn't explain. Energy? Not quite. Power, emotion? Close, but still not it. He opened his mind link, and moved forcefully back to his stupid, morbid topic.

_'An exchange,'_ he thought again. He hated to do this, but...

He forced himself to loom at his options, with reason. The many ways to end his existence, in hopes of bringing back his hikari's.

Leaping from a high point.

Definitely no turning back if he did that. Once his foot left the surface, Yami was a goner. But, to short a fall and all he'd receive is wasted time and complete agony- not that he didn't deserve it.

The strange force seemed to stir.

Medication.

Quietly slipping away under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. It sounded simple enough... But someone could easily find, and revive him.

A blade to an artery.

There were two in the wrists that was a common target for suicidal people. Then there was the stomach, which would hurt like hell, or the leg. The quickest way could be to go for the jugular. It would pump out the most blood in a shorter period of time.

The presence stirred more.

Drowning.

It began to toss and turn, as if in a nightmare.

Suffocation.

It tensed, and reached out. It seemed to grow frightened. Yami started to feel uneasy. Was this presence... his aibou?

Bullet to the head.

It squirmed restlessly.

Hanging.

It began to thrash around. The feeling was damn near overwhelming. Now, the uneasiness fell into full-blown, bitter guilt. He _hated_ tricking his partner, but if he was receiving a response from his self-conscious...

Maybe he would coax him back to the waking world?

_'Or, hey,'_ he pressed, _'Maybe I should just do it now and shove something metallic into an electrical socket!'_

Something snapped.

The Puzzle shone in a red, angry, sorrowful aura, and Yami felt his soul being dragged into it's former confines.

* * *

_**(A/N: I WAS gonna end it here, but I figured the chapter would be to short if I did... so here you are!)**_

* * *

Yami's consciousness resurfaced slowly. Pain radiated amongst his limbs, and something that was trembling gripped his shirt's front. Bewildered and rather lost, he opened his eyes slowly with a groan.

Blurred colors of pale flesh-tone and navy blue danced before his vision. A figure began to settle as his eyes cleared away the daze. Soft, delicate curvatures and contours to the face, soft alabaster flesh, a star of wildly colored hair, and two wide, violet pools. His eyes flew the rest of the way open.

Yuugi was glaring at him, tears running down his perfect face. Yami flinched. He knew his aibou would hate him... It was all his fault this happened...

Yuugi stiffened, fists tightening their grip on Yami's collar. "It _isn't_ your fault!" he shouted, sobbing. "Don't you _ever_ think like that again, mou hitori no boku! _**Never**_! Baka, baka, _baka, baka, __**baka**_!" he gently shook his other self's torso, crying fearfully.

Guilt seared Yami's broken soul with a vengeance. Yuugi must hate him.

_**SLAP!**_

Yami's eyes widened, hand absently cupping his reddening cheek. Yuugi glared intensely at him, shoulders shaking. "I _don't_ hate you, dammit!" he growled, firey expression breaking into a look of helplessness. "I love you, Yami! Please, never think that way again! Never, ever,_ ever_, Pharaoh! Do you understand?!"

Yami nodded dumbly. Tears dripped down from his rose-red eyes. He wanted... so badly, more than anything to- but... Doubts flickered across his mind. He growled. "Fuck it."

Before his mou hitori no ore could react to the foul language, Yami grabbed his face between gentle palms, and shoved his lips against his aibou's own.

He felt Yuugi quickly melt into the passionate embrace, arms wrapping tightly around his shoulders. A hand fisted loosely into his hair. He forced the full, lotus-petal lips apart with his tounge, and explored his little love's mouth with the muscle. He felt Yuugi pretty much go limp in his grasp, submitting happily to whatever his Darkness willed.

Yami, albeit reluctantly, pulled away a few seconds later, panting lightly while tears still ran down his face. Yuugi was blushing a soft red, and Yami felt his own cheeks grow warm with blood. "Ai... Aibou..." he murmured dreamily, managing a weak smile. The hikari wrapped his yami into another strong hug. "Baka Pharaoh," he whispered, pressing his face into Yami's chest. The former spirit did the same to the boy's hair, inhaling the sweetly intoxicatingly sweet scent of his aibou.

They remained like that, in this dark space caught between wakefulness and endless slumber. Yami vaguely registered that where he and Yuugi were in this endless blackness was the only light source- a small circle around and beneath them. All else was an infinite, tar-like darkness. Yami squeezed his Little One tighter, fearing that if he let go, the smaller would vanish, and this would all be a dream. Or, worse- In a haze of grief and desperation, Yami had actually _followed through _with his idiotic _'exchange of souls'_ plan of his.

He felt Yuugi continue to shake in his well-built arms. Yami pulled away, just enough so their eyes could meet. Crimson burned into sweet amethyst, willing each other to never look away again. "Y... Yami?" Yuugi murmured.

"Yes, Aibou?" he replied, voice just as quiet, just as soft, and uncharacteristically tender. A hand reached up to cup Yuugi's left cheek, thumb softly passing across the tear-stained flesh.

Yuugi seemed to hesitate, as if he were scared to ask his yami about whatever was on his mind. He inhaled, trembling slightly. "W-Were you... Were you re-really go-going to do it?" he whispered, obviously heartbroken.

Yami felt his own pulse freeze momentarily, sorrow and apology shining in his burning, jewel-like eyes. He wanted desperately to deny it, to assure his sweet little light that all would be well. But... he couldn't. "I..." his face twisted into one of sad confusion, like a lost child. "I-I don't know..."

And he honestly didn't.

Yuugi drew him close in another strong hug. "I'm just glad I found you this time..." he murmured tearfully. Yami tensed, puzzled and wary.

"'This time'?" Yami echoed quietly, and Yuugi nodded into the fabric of his other half's shirt.

Yuugi nodded absently. "There were... s-so _many_ doors... And it was dark and _cold_. But I feel safe now, a-and warm..." he nuzzled closer, as if Yami were a prized childhood blanket or teddy bear. "So warm..." he murmured dreamily, tense shoulders falling slack with contentment.

Yami stiffened as a sickeningly familiar chill crawled up his spine, something brushing at his ankle.

There was Shadow magic at work here.

A deep rumble sounded from far inside the cavernous darkness, shaking the intangible ground they kneeled upon. Yuugi whimpered, grabbing at his mou hitori no boku tightly. Yami clutched the smaller body close to his chest, and forced the two of them to unsteady feet.

Something swung for them. _A trap!_

"Aibou, _look out_!" Yami shoved his love to the side, and barrel-rolled out of the way in time to dodge what looked like a spiked log. The wind from its hasted arrival made Yami's hair flutter and dance on a lethal breeze it left behind. He dashed to his partner's side after a few seconds. The trap wasn't returning.

"Yuugi!" he gasped, panting with anxiety. Yuugi lay curled upon the ground, in a fetal position and quaking in his navy blue uniform. Fresh tears tracked down the sides of his perfect face. "Koi, are you alright?"

He looked up, swallowing nervously. "H-Hai," he murmured breathlessly, and allowed his dark half to sweep his shaking body into a protective hug. He leaned away from the bitter cold of this realm's stagnant air, into the comforting heat of his love's body. Away from the evil shadows, and to his Darkness' surprisingly vibrant soul.

Yami was meant to be his darker half, but burning in this... this hellish place, his presence shone like a roaring inferno within the deepest reaches of an Arctic tundra. He shuddered, the hopelessness of his situation weighing down on frail shoulders like a lead weight. Yami felt his tenshi go limp within his arms, the pre-sobbing hiccups muffled by his shirt. Yami crossed his legs, and moved Yuugi into his lap, holding and cradling him like a child.

"I th-thought I-I got o-out this time!" he whimpered. "I tho-thought I wo-would wake up!" Yami felt sympathy and pain enter his chest at such fearful noises leaving his beloved, and he squeezed Yuugi tighter, trying to stifle his own tears.

He failed, and a silvery string of moisture marched down his left cheek. Pale arms held his shivering partner, whose head was resting in the crook of his neck and shoulder, sniffling quietly. His mindset veered back to 'guilt and self-loathing' very quickly. This whole damn mess wouldn't have happened if he had just-!

The former pharaoh bit back an angry growl, and he went back to trying to quiet Yuugi's sobs. He gently rocked the teen, cooing quiet reassurances into his ear. "Shh," he murmured tenderly, "Shh, you'll be fine, Aibou. I'll get you out of here. I_ promise_."

Yuugi loosely wrapped his arms around Yami's shoulders, wiping his cheek lightly on his own. Yami wiped the wetness away with feather-light fingertips, smiling gently.

_**/I'm so weak,/ **_Yuugi mentally berated. _**/All I can do is cry like a child!/**_

Yami's brows furrowed. "You are not weak, Aibou. You are _strong_. To survive within the Puzzle's confines for so long, and still be fighting for way out..." he sighed. "Your body is still alive, it's just resting. You'll wake up in it, soon enough."

A stab of bitterness towards himself drifted over Yuugi's end of the mind link. Yami squeezed him reassuringly.

"To be honest, I cried a lot when I was here, too," he confessed, a bit sheepishly. Yuugi looked up with wide, innocent pools of violet, rhinestone tears still glimmering within thick, black lashes. Yami smiled shyly down at him. "It's one of my first memories of being trapped in here. The Shadows ensnaring my body, and crying for someone to help. For a light to chase the darkness away..."

A small smile allowed itself to cross Yuugi's full lips. The smile, in return, reflected upon Yami's own face. He planted a soft, chaste kiss to Yuugi's cheek. The smaller giggled, grinned wider, and blushed adorably.

Yami led them to their feet, determination in his wine-red eyes. "Let's find you a way out of here, Partner," he said confidently, and Yuugi nodded. They began walking in an aimless direction into the darkness, Yami's arm slung almost lazily over Yuugi's shoulders.

And they walked. Without knowledge of where they were at, or where they were headed, bodies always within a touch's distance. They came across none of the many doors both knew the Puzzle had contained, at least at some point. Back when it hid Yami's memories from him.

Was this all there was now? With no known secrets left to guard, no evil power to contain... just... darkness? Yami didn't know. All he did know was that he had to get his tenshi out of this place. The Items, though no longer containing the entity of Zorc Necrophades, still held terrifying magical energies. _Dangerous,_ magical energies. And he'd be damned before any more harm befell his Little One under his watch.

After what could have been minutes, seconds, or even days of simple, silent walking, they heard a noise.

Yami's arms gathered Yuugi close, who looped his right arm around the small of his Darkness' back, the left over his chest to hook onto a sturdy shoulder. They waited, tense, on-edge, for something to happen. Anything.

They heard it again. Faint, distorted, muffled.

Yami blinked suspiciously, head turning to catch a 360° of their surroundings. Nothing but thick, tar-like blackness, all around.

The sound came again, louder this time. A voice? No- more than one. _Voices_.

The voices spoke again, getting clearer. Yami felt strangely lightheaded. He gripped to Yuugi, who hugged him back, supporting each other.

They echoed and ricocheted off the ebony fogs of Shadow magic around them, growing more urget. A name? His vision began to swim.

Not just a name. _His_ name.

Yuugi's eyes widened. "Jounouchi-kun?" he murmured. "Anzu-chan? H-Honda-kun?" he looked to his other half, dread in anxious lavender eyes. "Are they trapped here, too?"

Yami simply returned the gaze, dumbfounded and confused. His senses grew foggier, still.

"_Yams'!"_ Jounouchi's voice called. "_C'mon, man! Wake up!"_

His head swam, and Yami lurched forward, equilibrium thrown off drastically. "Yami!" Yuugi gasped, slowly his fall as they both fell to their knees.

_"Yami!"_ their friends called, sounding frightened. Yami shook his head, fighting their calls.

He was waking up.

And when he did, Yuugi would be alone again.

Yami slumped down into his aibou's loving arms. "Mou Hitori no Boku!" he cried, frightened. "Are you alright? What's wrong?!"

Yami panted, fighting mental tooth-and-nail against his emerging consciousness. His little angel's eyes widened in realization. "Y-You're waking up, aren't you?" he asked quietly, holding his Darkness much like he had an unknown time ago, cradling his trembling body. Yami looked up to Yuugi, eyes wide, crestfallen. He couldn't leave his Little One here, all alone! Not again!

But, to his surprise, Yuugi... smiled.

"It's okay," he murmured, as their friend's voices cried out yet again. "I know you'll come back for me."

Yami looked into the intoxicating amethyst gems, tears pricking at his eyes once again. Yuugi hugged him softly, before Yami leaned forward, and caught his lips with his own. It was chaste, emotional, despairing. His hands clung to Yuugi's firmly, the two small limbs pressed between his own two palms.

Giving in to the alertness of the waking world, he vowed, staring straight into Yuugi's sad but hopeful eyes. "I_ will_ get you back, Habibi," he vowed. "I _will_ save you!" Trust shone within his aibou's gaze.

"I know you will," he whispered quietly.

Yami drew him into another quick kiss, feeling his soul being quite literally pulled forcefully back into his own body. Their hands were ripped apart from each other. _"I__** will **__find you_!"

In an electrifying jolt, as Yami still struggled to remain by his Light's side, something went amiss. For a split-second of shifted reality, Yami found his mind being painfully shot to origins unknown.

There was pain, and cold. Bone-chilling cold. A lingering warmth upon his lips, arms outstretched as he reached out for... _himself_.

He was _in_ Yuugi's body, watching _his own soul_ being flown back into ebony nothing. Like a Dark angel, or a demon.

Then it all ended, and the last thing Yami saw was his aibou's trusting face, arms outstretched, as if to catch his other half... The light around him shone like an angel's sweet embrace.

Then all was empty, and black.

* * *

**I LOVE how this chapter turned out! Them sad, angst heart-feels, man. :')**

**I hope you enjoy! And thanks A MILLION for the flood of reviews and critism. It made mah heart feel happeh :D**

**I've decided to ditch the whole "ask for reviews" shpiel, and just update at my own time. So... yeah.. :P**


	5. Gisei

**Title: **_Mezameru_

**Pairing:**_ Puzzleshipping (Yuugi/Yami)_

**Rating:**_ T_

**Genre:**_ Angst, Drama, Friendship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance_

**Full Summary:**_ Yuugi is in a coma. His chances of survival balance on a mere mark of 35% How will his Yami cope when he thinks-no, when he KNOWS- that it is all his fault?_

* * *

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor ANY characters in this story, unless noted otherwise. I DO, however, own the plot of it. The Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime belong to Kazuki Takahashi-san.**_

**_Please do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor recreate my hard work in any way._**

**_Or I will sic Yami on you_**

* * *

_**WARNING(S): Suicidal Thoughts, Thoughts of Self-Harm**_

* * *

_**~ Chapter V ~**_

_Gisei_

* * *

"Yami! _Wake up_, Yami!"

The tall, pale teenager groaned, face scrunching into a displeased grimace as his mind resurfaced from inky black unconsciousness. These voices... they were loud.

_Very _loud. Headache-causing loud.

They echoed and ricocheted with a sick sort of vengeance against his skull, making a migraine pulse with his rapid heartbeat. There were lights outside of his squeezed-shut eyelids. _'Where... Where am I? Yuugi... aibou...'_

Scattered memories flew into his mind. Yuugi, fading in the Darkness.

A dream? A nightmare?

His crimson eyes flew open, wild and panicked. Yami shot upright with a shout of "Yuugi!"

Anzu, Jounouchi, and Honda reared back with surprise at their friend's sudden revival. Yami pressed a hand to is head as everything spun dangerously, but he still tried to stand up. Jou jumped in, and firmly pressed him back down to recline against Yuugi's bed, hands clutching at his skull while shapes blurred into a disorienting wad of nothing before him. "Woah, easy there, pal. Ya' hit your head pretty hard on the way down," he said.

Yami, hand still pressed over one eye to stem away the pounding nausea and headache, looked up at the blond incredulously. "What... What are you talking about?" he demanded softly.

Anzu interjected quietly. "We walked in a couple of hours ago, and saw you just... fall over, in a dead faint," she explained, face lined with concern.

_'A few hours?_' Yami thought, confused. _'How did I pass out? Let alone for so _long_?'_ Yami rubbed at a temple, calming his pounding headache. He couldn't remember anything... Wait- he remembered arguing... With Jounouchi. When was that? Yesterday?

Anzu's voice broke into his thoughts. "What happened, Pharaoh? You..." her eyes widened in rememberence, then extreme anxiety. "You've been eating right? Because... last time..."

Honda and Jounouchi mirrored her expression, and they all stared intently at the former pharaoh intently. Yami grimaced at the memories. The ones of the_ last_ time he had failed his hikari.

Caught in a storm of extreme depression, Yami refused to eat. Not only was he never hungry, but anything he forced down just forced its way back up within the hour. He didn't- _couldn't_- sleep. Whenever he managed to fall into the world of dreams, they were horrid nightmares. He'd wake himself with his own screaming and tears.

Anzu had been forced to shake him awake on a few occasions, and Yami had almost sent everyone within a twenty-foot radius to the Shadow Realm in his fog of terror.

He also became angry. And _extremely_ emotional. The smallest of things would set him off. The simplest of reminders of his failure to protect Yuugi, instilling unimaginable rage. Yami had spent more time in tears than he'd like to admit. What they saw was only a small **_fraction_** of what he was really feeling. He'd almost killed Weevil once because of it, for Ra's sake! (Not the the narcissistic prick didn't deserve it- taunting him and his Little One like that. The bastard was lucky Anzu was there to stop him!)

Yami blinked slowly, sadly, up at his friends, before giving a small nod.

Anzu didn't look convinced. She crossed her arms, a motherly air blanketing the atmosphere around them. Internally, Yami winced. Nothing was worse than the over-concerned, _'Mommy-Mode Mazaki'_.

"I don't buy it, Yami," she grumbled, eyes narrowing. "Come on, we're going back to your house, and you are going to get some rest. It's unhealthy to stay cooped up in this room for so long." Yami opened his mouth to protest, but the girl cut him off. "Yuugi would understand. He wouldn't want you wasting away in his hospital room with him! Now, let's go."

Yami stood up shakily, head pounding even more. Something wasn't right... His hand went to seek the comfort of his Millennium Puzzle, only to find it was missing. He started, eyes widening.

Had someone stolen it?!

He spun around, eyes immediately seeking out his aibou's unresponsive form. They fell to his face, soft and peaceful, and he instantly felt a wave of sorrow wash over him. He'd failed Yuugi... again...

Then something caught his eye. Around Yuugi's neck, was the Puzzle. How had that happened? Shaking his head to clear his jumbled thoughts, Yami walked over to his Light's still form. His hand reached out, and gently cupped the Duelling protégés' cheek.

The Puzzle gave a brief, dim flash of golden light, enticing him to pick it up. Yami blinked at it, eyes narrowed in thought. Why did he sense he was missing something here?

Giving in to the artifact's gentle persuasion, Yami gingerly took the chain of it, and moved it from around Yuugi's neck. He smiled faintly as a small memory came to mind.

* * *

_Yuugi was standing before the full-body mirror in his bedroom, turning and changing his angles to get a good view of his newest accessory. The Puzzle, once strung my a bland, brown length of rope, was now attached to Yuugi's neck by chain and black leather chocker. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Spirit?" he was asking. "I mean, doesn't wearing the Puzzle on a chain seem a little too _flashy_?"_

_Yami materialized beside him, giving the boy a once-over with his eyes. He missed the soft blush that rose to his partner's pale cheeks. Yami smirked, "Nonsense, aibou," he said confidently. "In fact, I'd wear a couple of bracelets, if I were you."_

_Yuugi flushed profusely. "That's not like me at all!" he protested shyly, "Something like that is more your thing, Mou Hitori no Boku."_

_Yami merely shrugged, unable to resist a smile at the adorable look on his partner's face. He blinked, and quickly blocked the emotion from their link. Yuugi paused for a moment, casting a curious glance at the suddenly off-sync Pharaoh. Yami offered a smile, before disappearing into the sanctity of the Millennium Puzzle.  
_

* * *

The former spirit couldn't do much as his three closest friends shoved him into Anzu's new-used car, and drove him to the Game Shop. Sugoroku still wasn't home, and Yami felt deep guilt stir in his chest. The old man was suffering. And it was all because of-

He broke off when the Puzzle around his neck seemed to swell with a frustrated energy. He looked down to it, eyes widened in alarm and surprise. Hadn't all of its magic vanished and been sealed away with Zorc's defeat? Perhaps- at least, Yami hadn't been able to channel any Shadow Magic since his decision to stay in the modern world, with Yuugi, almost a year ago.

So why did he feel such raw _power_ coming from it?

He didn't have much time to muse, because, as he sat at the kitchen table, Anzu and Honda set a variety of dishes in front of him. Yami blinked, head raising from his crossed arms, staring at them with a confused tilt to his head. It was a remarkable imitation to Yuugi, making Anzu want to smile.

But no, she had a friend to care for. She kept her arms crossed, her face stern, azure eyes sharp with authority. Yami blinked, looking away for a moment, hand moving to cradle the Puzzle in his discomfort. Anzu's foot began to tap against the floor.

"Can I... _help_ you?" the former pharaoh asked, sounding unsure.

Anzu motioned to the dishware before him, which was covered in a variety of foods. Fruits, vegetables, a plate of re-heated curry from dinner a few nights ago, and other assorted goodies. "_Eat_," she said simply. Not a request- a demand.

"I have been," he protested lightly, one hand tightening for comfort around his Item under 'Mommy-Mazaki's' scrutinizing gaze. She raised one brow questioningly, making Yami bend.

Tentatively, as if the girl would snap forward and take off his hand, Yami picked up an apple slice from a small plate, put it in his mouth, and chewed. It was cold, crisp, and sweet, making his taste buds sing their delight.

"Wow," Jounouchi commented from somewhere behind him, "I think dat's the fastest I've _ever_ seen ya' do what yer told, Pharaoh," he snickered. "Look out, World! We've got somethin' even more powerful than Zorc Necrophades!" He motioned dramatically towards their female companion, ignoring the irritated glare she sent his way. "-the motherly Anzu Mazaki!"

Leaving Jou to tend to his newest head-wound, Yami slowly finished the fruit. It was all he could manage, his stomach already protesting at the unwanted food. He just didn't _feel _like eating- the depression was to overbearing. Because the pain in his gut was greatly overshadowed by the agony in his heart.

He excused himself, and walked upstairs to change into a fresh outfit. The stairs leading to his room creaked under his heavy footfalls, lacking all the elegant grace they usually contained. Slipping into a white T-shirt, he began to ponder briefly. It was something he'd done often. Just think.

As he pulled on a long-sleeved, dark gray jacket (one of the few leather-less articles of clothing he owned), Yami sighed. He fed a belt through the loops in his black skinny jeans, before walking over and sitting heavily on his bed. One hand absently began to cradle his wrist.

Yami looked down at it, pushing up the sleeve a little to stare at the flawless pale flesh. Mindlessly staring down at his wrist, the thumb of Yami's hand began to circle lightly over the blue veins that contained his bloodstream. His thoughts to an unexpectedly _dark _turn.

So what if he did? Yami had heard- even in his short time in the modern world- that it helped... to numb the pain... Just a little mark. That would be it. Just a little mark, and he'd be done.

The teenager stiffened, eyes growing wide as terror filled him. Why was he... so afraid? The emotion almost felt foreign to him. He roughly yanked the sleeve down again, legs coming up onto the mattress to fold to his chest. "_Baka_!" he berated himself quietly, grimacing, "Think of your Hikari! How would he feel if you did something like _that_?!"

His fists clenched. "You were a Pharaoh once, Ra damn it! Some king you would make, sinking so as to think causing yourself injury would help!" He stubbornly swatted away a tear that dared to show.

"Stop! Crying! Ugh- _weakling_!"

He rested his head in his hands. He just... he just wanted to feel numb. Why couldn't he have at least _that_? He voiced his thoughts, quietly muttering. "Please," he murmured, "No more emotion... No more pain-!" his teeth grit, eyes squeezing shut to stifle tears again. Dear Gods above, this fate was worse than death! Sitting, waiting, hoping... But if Yuugi-

_'No! He _will _wake up! He'll get better!'_ he argued mentally.

_'But,'_ that little Voice of Pessimism rearing its ugly head, _'What if he __**does**__ die? What will you do then?'_

Yami sighed shakily, crimson eyes turning cold. "I'll follow him," he decided quietly, allowing the deep abyss of his depression to consume him. "If he leaves, I will, too..."

"I... I-I can't breathe without him..." he sighed heavily, but sounded firm and steely in his choice.

Unbeknownst to Yami, behind his bedroom door, three sets of eyes widened in horror and shock.

"If Yuugi dies, then I will, too."

He looked up abruptly as a knock sounded on his door. Clearing his throat, and his mind, Yami spoke up, "Yeah?"

The door opened, revealing his three friends. They didn't say anything, not wanting to reveal that they were eavesdropping. Jounouchi marched straight up to his best friend's Darkness, and held out a hand expectantly. Yami blinked, looking from the hand to Jou's face in puzzlement.

"Gimmie yer arm, Yams'," the blonde said sternly. Yami blinked, looking at the other as if he'd gone mad.

"What for?" he asked incredulously.

Jou waved his fingers in a _'give it'_ or _'come here'_ gesture, raising a brow expectantly. Yami, still confused _**(A/N: Lol, you're dense Pharaoh! :P)**,_ merely repeated his question. "Why?"

"'Cause I asked ya'," Jounouchi repeated.

Yami took in the anxious auras of the three, growing a little wary. "I fail to see what this will accomplish. I haven't done anything, have I?"

"You tell me, Yams'," Jounouchi persisted, "Now show me yer wrists."

Yami blinked largely in sudden understanding, and placed a hand obediently in his friend's waiting fingers.

Jounouchi took the sleeve of Yami's jacket, and shoved it as close up to his shoulder as it would go. Yami winced slightly when he jerked his arm around, scrutinizing for the signs of any wound or scar. He even made Anzu fetch him a wetted washcloth, and scrubbed at the flesh for any hints of make-up. He repeated with the second one, twisting and turning and flexing it for any indication of injury. Or, rather, _self-harm_.

Satisfied, Jou dropped his friend's limb, which was now reddening with slight irritation from the ferocity the other male had when he'd taken the washcloth to the pale flesh. Yami rubbed his arm gingerly, glancing up at the three. "Anything else?" he asked, a but expectantly.

That was when Anzu shot forward, and tugged Yami into a firm, powerful hug. He huffed out a breath in surprise, arms in the air while hers wrapped beneath them. She was crying, small traces of moisture forming along her eyelids. Tentatively, he rested his over her shoulders, patting her back lightly in consolation. What had gotten into them?

They hadn't overheard, had they?

"Pharaoh," the brown-haired girl whimpered, arms squeezing around Yami's chest even more.

He exhaled sharply at the pressure, but managed a steady "Hai?"

Anzu looked up at him, pulling away, with wide blue eyes. They looked scared, and Yami felt a wave of protectiveness for his friends wash over him. What was wrong with them? Were they being threatened, or hurt by someone?

"Pharaoh, if something was bothering you, you'd tell us, right?"

Yami blinked in mild surprise at the question. "Haven't I done that thus far?" he countered gently, sounding genuine. He had... about _most_ things. His friends didn't deserve the mental burden of his thoughts that remained true to his namesake. Dark. Full of shadows and torment.

The girl fidgeted, fingers running through her hair uncomfortably. "Well, yeah, but..." she sighed, "Are you sure there isn't anything else you want to say to us?"

Yami felt a stirring within his Sennen item again, willing him to confess. Ignoring the guilt, Yami shook his head slowly, but was unable to look them in the eye. He'd already made his choice. He would stay with the one he loved- no matter the cost. He... he needed Yuugi just as much, if not more, than Yuugi claimed he needed Yami. He was... nothing without his Light.

Empty.

Lost.

Dark.

Honda sighed sharply, a hand folding over his mouth as he looked to be in deep thought. He closed his eyes, before turning to Yami and speaking for the first time Yami could recall that day. "You aren't thinking about..." he cleared his faltering voice, as if struggling to speak.

Yami tilted his head in confusion, looking much like a puppy would. _'Like Yuugi would,'_ they all decided mentally. The boy was a larger influence on the former spirit than any of them- including Yuugi, himself- had ever realized. "Thinking about what Honda...?" he asked, sounding cautious.

Hiroto put a fist to his lips, clearing his throat. "You aren't thinking about... _s-s-suicide_, are you, Yami?"

Yami felt his heart skip a beat. He could _hide the truth_, but there was no _lying_ to them... He couldn't do it.

Shame-faced, Yami turned his face downwards, eyes darting to the side to glance at the wall. He heard Anzu give a heartbroken noise, and he imagined her holding back sobs. More guilt burned his heart, and Yami frowned deeply, eyes closing. A sigh was released through his nose, shoulders slumping in defeat.

The Millennium Puzzle, now squeezed between Yami's hands, gave a vibrant flash. Pain shot through his skull, making the teen grunt in pain and press his hands firmly against his temples. His friends recoiled as an overwhelming aura shit around the small room like a whirlwind.

"**_You promised, Mou Hitori no Boku_!**" a voice screamed, sounding hurt, betrayed, and heartbroken. Yami looked up, eyes wide and shining with moisture.

"Aibou?"

The Puzzle began to shone with a strangely familiar bloody light, wave after wave of emotion pummeling Yami's senses.

"You _promised_!" Yuugi's voice repeated, "You said no more thinking like that! You _promised me_!"

Yami blinked, at a loss. There was an enormous blank in his memory. What in the name of_ Ra _was going on?!

His friends were staring at him in shock and accusation. "You thought about offing yourself before?" Jou demanded, looking as if Yami had stabbed him in the back, "Why didn't you _tell _us, baka?!"

A wave of agony shot up Yami's spine, searing into his brain. "I-I don't know what your-"

Then it clicked. Like the pieces of a puzzle

He looked up, standing, and removing the Puzzle. "Yuugi?" he asked, looking desperate. The angered wind died down, becoming more like a caressing breeze. Sadness flowed through their damaged Bond, and Yami could picture tears in his koi's soulful eyes.

There was a flash of luminescence, forcing the four teenagers to turn away sharply, shielding their eyes with groans of protest. Yami's eyes squeezed shut, hands still clutching at the Egyptian artifact that trapped the soul of his Hikari.

Memories came rushing back to him, of his encounter with Yuugi within that damnable hunk of gold. The darkness, the Shadows, traps and endless corridors... But also the hugs. The soothing words, the tears, and the kisses. The agony he felt as his soul was shoved forcefully into wakefulness.

* * *

_In an electrifying jolt, as Yami still struggled to remain by his Light's side, something went amiss. For a split-second of shifted reality, Yami found his mind being painfully shot to origins unknown._

_There was pain, and cold. Bone-chilling cold. A lingering warmth upon his lips, arms outstretched as he reached out for... himself._

_He was in Yuugi's body, watching his own soul being flown back into ebony nothing. Like a Dark angel, or a demon._

_Then it all ended, and the last thing Yami saw was his aibou's trusting face, arms outstretched, as if to catch his other half... The light around him shone like an angel's sweet embrace._

_Then all was empty, and black.  
_

* * *

He jolted at the sudden realization.

Yami had overshadowed Yuugi's soul.

The once-pharaoh opened his eyes slowly, as the light died down to a pleasant shimmer. It was warm and loving, making Yami feel safe and secure. He looked up, only to feel his heart stop.

"Atem."

Yuugi stood an arm's length away, his spiritual essence manifested before his friends.

"Y... Yuugi?" Yami breathed.

"Yuug'!" Jou gaped, before a grin split his face. "You're awake!"

Yuugi looked over to the Brooklyn-accented male, smiling sadly. He shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. I'm not..." Their faces fell. The pale child motioned to a golden artifact that had shifted positions from Yami's hands, to around his neck. "I'm trapped in the Puzzle... In all honesty, being able to show myself to you right now," he grimaced, and Yami felt a muted throbbing over his body take control. He winced, straight posture curling slightly. "It actually ki-kind of _h-hurts_."

His mou hitori no ore was in pain... Oh, his precious, precious little Light... Guilt seared Yami's soul for what felt like the thousandth time in these past few days. He had to help him. But... how could he? The soul of his koi was trapped ins-

Yami's blood-red eyes widened.

Of course... How could he have been so blind? If the Puzzle was trapping Yuugi's soul... And if Yami could still take control of his aibou's mind...

Without thinking, the once-spirit shot forward, and yanked his little one's astral form into a tight embrace. He felt a pleasant thrill go through him at the feeling of a solid form, rather than just a warm presence for his arms to pass through. He felt Yuugi immediately relax into his arms, a sigh of content escaping through his nose.

_**/Mou Hitori no Boku.../**_

"I love you, Aibou..." the ancient teen murmured into Yuugi's ear, making their friends catch their breaths. Yami crossed his arms over his little one's back, fingers lightly brushing the chain of their Puzzle. "...and I'm sorry."

Yuugi took in a small breath as his Darkness' fingers linked around the chain. "Sorry for wha-"

Opening their link to the fullest, Yami yanked, _hard_, residual Shadow Magic sparking around the metal. Yami's consciousness entered that of his Light's.

Overshadowing his mind...

_Taking his place._

The chain around Yuugi's thin neck broke. The boy started, gasping heavily as pain, followed by chilling numbness, wracked up his spinal cord. The air caught in Yami's throat, making a choked noise.

There was warmth, then heat, then raging fire and sparks that were coursing through his bloodstream, like hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of white-hot metal needles scraping against his every cell and pore. His thoughts became an unintelligible string of confusion and deep, sweltering agony. The metal links he had shattered dissipated with the sound akin to thousands of crystal glasses shattering at once. Tinkling, delicate, fragile.

_Hothothothotpainagonysmoulderingburninghorriblepai ncan'tbreathecan'tbreathcan'tbreathe!_

His legs buckled, and Yuugi's arms were there to catch him.

_Darknesscoldnumbcan'tfeelcan'tbreathe_

His vision blurred, a golden glow beginning to form around his body. It began at his legs, and slowly began to creep up his trembling form. Like morning sunlight cresting the horizon. Yami panted, dazed. It was cold. But there was warmth. He nestled closer to it.

_Lightnicewarmcomforting_

Possessiveness filled every crevice of his soul. His undying devotion and love. He heard voices screaming. Were they screaming for him?

But... _who was he_?

_Brightlightsafegracefulbeautifulchasingawaydarknes s_

He had to keep it safe. It was **_his_**.

_Mineminelightaiboumine_

The light passed over his hips. His feet slowly began to become translucent_._

_Aiboupartnerlightlovemineprotectminekeepsafekeepwa rm_

"What did you **_do_**?!" the Light demanded, water trickling down his face. He looked up with hazy eyes, seeing four faces peering down on his. But the Light was the most beautiful. Dark hair, tipped in what looked like blood, pure golden rays of sunshine framing a face of moonstone.

_Softsoftsowarmsoperfectsobeautiful_

Perfect gems of amethyst stared down at him with desperation and love and warmth and sorrow. He frowned in confusion. Light so pure should not be crying. Why was he crying? _For him_? Is that why the Light held him so? So gently, so tenderly, so lovingly?

He blinked. He had a purpose. He was Darkness. Wasn't Darkness meant to oppose the Light? If so, then why did he feel the overwhelming desire to cherish it so?

_Who_ was he?

_Where_ was he?

And why, oh Ra, _why_, was this beautiful angel shedding such sorrowful diamonds from his perfect jewel eyes?

He had saved the Light, this he knew. He did not know how, or why, but he did. The Darkness was calling. The Puzzle was pulling, tugging, _**demanding**_ his return. He watched as little by little, recognition vanished on luminescent wings. Feathered wings of stardust, shattered reality, broken dreams, fading hope and falling tears. Memories- _were they his?-_ flashed before his eyes.

Monsters, magic, spirits, deserts, sun. A name, a face, an existence, a body. They faded with the heavenly light. Shining violet gems bore into wine-red. Love, desire, want, need, lust, adoration, protection. Light and Darkness. Darkness and Light.

Twisted perfection.

"I... took your... t-took your place..." he managed, struggling to breathe. "Angels... don't dwell... with shadows..."

The angel grew frantic, emotional. The Light clutched him closer. Warmth radiated against his cold skin. Chains began to slowly snake over his legs...

_Softwarmlightheavenloveneverleaveneverleaveyou_

"_Why_? Why would you do that?!" It demanded with a sob.

He didn't like it. Angels weren't supposed to cry.

"Would... do it... again..."

He blinked, body fully engulfing in the light of false comfort. The real Light was holding him, cradling him close.

"That doesn't answer my question, Yami!"

He blinked crimson eyes blearily. Yami. Darkness. It was what he felt, as barbed chains crept over his body. Exclamations rang out as they crossed his midsection, binding his legs and aiming for his arms.

"L.. L-Love... Love."

_Gettingcoldpainsorrowagonysadnessdarkshadowscoldco ldcold_

He blinked, confusion and bewilderment forming on his sharply-defined face.

"W-Who..." he choked, growing scared. "Who... Who a-am I...?"

_Fearsorrowdarknessshadowscallingpullingtearingpain painpain_

There was scarcely a name left within his mind. The rest was an empty, black void of nothing.

_Yugioh..._

_Yugioh..._

_He was... Yugioh?_

It didn't seem right.

The cold chain bound his arms, and the man without a memory sank into the touch of the Light. He relished it as his body went numb. The spikes began to dig cruelly into his flesh.

The Puzzle was calling.

"Yami!" the spirit-boy-angel cried out, salty-sweet tears dripping from his chin.

_Yami..._

_Yami._

He liked that name.

The Sennen Puzzle gave a fierce spark of black-light, and he felt no more. He was taken, pulled, torn from the loving glow of Light.

_Coldsuffocatingpainpainpaincan'tbreathcan'tseecan' thearnolightcolddarkcan'twakeupfadingawaytrapped_

Falling... falling... into Darkness. Into black nothing. An empty abyss of painful tears and sharpness shredding into his pale skin. As he vanished, so did the Angel.

Something akin to a diluted triumph came to his empty mind as the Puzzle shattered, forever trapping him within its cryptic pieces.

_Freedom._

He had returned to his earthly vessel.

And Yugioh had returned to the Darkness.

* * *

**Wow. I LOVE how this one turned out!**

**In case of confusion, after Yami broke the Puzzle's chain signifies him setting Yuugi free. He overshadows Yuugi's mind at the last minute, therefore taking his place. So, when the Puzzle breaks apart, HE is the one trapped within, instead of Yuugi.**

**The ending is the Puzzle trapping Yami once again, and wiping away his memories. Yuugi and his friends are calling for him, concerned, but he doesn't know who he is anymore. All he knows is the Darkness that had trapped him for so long, and was pulling him back into the Puzzle. His solid body, soul, and mind returned to its original place without the artifact. All he knows is the Light, which is Yuugi, who he figures is an angel come to comfort him in his last moments of freedom.**

**The italicized sentences are all mashed together and confusing because Yami is confused. It's simply his mind registering what his body and soul are feeling. There's pain, and cold, and Darkness from his soul being dragged back to the Puzzle. But there's love and Light and warmth from Yuugi's presence.**

**And when Yami returns to the Puzzle, Yuugi returns to his comatose body in the hospital.**

**So, it's twisted and sad and such. Bet'cha weren't expecting THAT ending ;D**

**I hope to upload the next chapter as soon as possible, but because of my family trip (going to the end of July), I can't make any guarantees that it will be any time soon. :(**

**PEACE!**


	6. Mezame

**Angst from the plot-twist! And because of that twist, I was forced to add another chapter. You will now have eight, instead of seven chapters from Mezameru w**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Title: **_Mezameru_

**Pairing:**_ Puzzleshipping (Yuugi/Yami)_

**Rating:**_ T_

**Genre:**_ Angst, Drama, Friendship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance_

**Full Summary:**_ Yuugi is in a coma. His chances of survival balance on a mere mark of 35% How will his Yami cope when he thinks-no, when he KNOWS- that it is all his fault?_

* * *

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor ANY characters in this story, unless noted otherwise. I DO, however, own the plot of it. The Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime belong to Kazuki Takahashi-san.**_

**_Please do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor recreate my hard work in any way._**

**_Or I will sic Yami on you._**

* * *

_**WARNING(S): Hints of Suicidal Thoughts**_

* * *

_**~ Chapter VI ~**_

_Mezame_

* * *

To say Yuugi was a wreck when he woke up would be the understatement of the _millennium._

Even with his grandfather (whom had been called and informed of the whole event afterwards) and friends there when he did, he was a hysterically crying mess. The nurses didn't understand at first, but a simple utterance of the name 'Yami', and they immediately suspected the worst (by 'normal' standards, that is.). He had calmed down simply for appearance as he was released from the hospital, though his eyes looked dull. The press was completely ignored, camera flashes and filming news crews only highlighting his deadened look. When one particularly stubborn man had damn near knocked the pale child out with his camera, demanding why he wasn't overjoyed to be awake, alive, and healthy, he gave a chilling response.

Yuugi glared at him, straight in the eyes, his own a lifeless gray-lavender. "Because my Yami is _not_."

That sent everyone into a stunned silence. Everyone knew of the Duelling Duo. Only true fans and Duellists acknowledged that there was not _on3_, but _two_ Kings of Games. The _'Yami-Hikari Duo'_, the pair were affectionately nicknamed, seeing as one was _named_ Yami, the other almost lovingly called 'his Hikari'. Darkness and Light.

And, of course, the world had known that his other half's comatose condition would be trying, stressful, and just heartbreaking altogether. But... the way Yuugi had said that _'his Yami was not'_, it made it sound as if... He were dead...

The irony and despair that Yami would... not be alive and well, a mere day at _most_, before his partner woke up. Several murmurs ran through the crowd, rumours already flying. '_Suicide_' was the most common.

_'It might as well have been,'_ Yuugi thought bitterly, biting his lip to stem off tears. All he could see was Yami.

Yami on the ground, in his arms. Yami whimpering in pain. Yami being enfolded by barbed chains. Yami forgetting. Forgetting their adventures. Forgetting his past and present. Forgetting their friends.

Forgetting _him._

Then... Yami fading away. Being sucked back into the Puzzle, which had shattered. The pain of their mind link being forcefully cut... Then waking up... and feeling alone. And unbearably cold.

Yuugi shivered, curling up in the backseat of his grandpa's car. Without Yami's presence right there, beside him... It was cold... _so cold..._

He only felt the Darkness.

School was awful. Everyone coming up to him, saying they were glad he was alright. Offering... condolences for Yami. The pale teen simply had to bite his tounge, and keep pushing forward. Struggling through the day, unable to think of anything but his Darkness, and the way he had... just faded away in his arms...

Aside from the short _'welcome back'_, most students avoided Yuugi. He was quiet, and reserved. He wouldn't talk, or smile, or laugh. Even those who weren't close friends to him began to notice just how dismal the day was without the small highschooler to stand out, and welcome both old and new faces with open arms.

"He used to say 'hi' to me every morning, when I sat down at my desk," Miho murmured sadly.

"He used to always thrash me at Duels. But he never bragged. He'd just smile and say 'you're getting better'," another male student reminisced, with a glance at the quiet boy.

"Yuugi stood up or me when I was bullied," Hanasaki sighed. "He was always really happy, before this whole mess..."

"Even if they're both guys," someone else whispered, "I really think they would've been good together... Yami and Yuugi were never apart... It's kind of weird..."

Yuugi stiffened in his seat, discreetly startng out the window. All he saw was petrified crimson staring right back.

"It wasn't just infatuation... They really loved each other."

Yuugi's fist tightened, pushing against the desk so hard it hurt. It was break, wasn't it? Why couldn't they all just go outside, and leave him be?!

"But... Yami..." Miho peeped, sounding at the edge of tears. "I know Yuugi hasn't said 'yes' or 'no', but... suicide...?"

_'Did he really kill himself,'_ Yuugi finished, teeth gritting. He stood up sharply from his desk, chair tumbling back, and clattering to the ground loudly. All eyes snapped to him.

"_Shut up_!" the Game King hissed, glaring icy daggers at the group, tears gathering in his eyes. "Just... Just shut up! He will be FINE. Yami will be j... just _fine_! You all... You have no_ idea_ how strong he is!" His rage only grew as pity shone in their eyes.

The immense urge to **_hit_** something overwhelmed him. He looked down, fist clenched against the desk as it shook with fury and pain. "Yami wouldn't leave me like that..."

But was that true? If Yuugi finished the Puzzle again, would he even_ remember _him?

Yuugi's eyes were shadowed over by his golden banges, and he sped from the room in a quick walk. He could feel their gazes burning into his back. Because they could all see it. The light had died from his amethyst eyes, and with it, his will to live.

Slowly, but surely, Yuugi was starting to break.

He took refuge at the old sakura tree he and Yami used to eat lunch under on hot days. He noticed a peculiar-looking, red-brown stain smeared on its pale bark. Pushing that aside, Yuugi sat down with a shuddering sigh, hands holding his head.

It was too much. He couldn't take it!

Yuugi withdrew his cellphone, and quickly dialed the shop's number. It rang once, twice, thrice, before it was answered.

_"Kamé Game Store, Sugoroku speaking,"_ came his grandfather's voice.

"J-Jii-chan?" Yuugi whimpered, feeling on the verge of a breakdown.

"_Yuugi_," Sugoroku replied, sounding worried, "_What's wrong, my boy? Are you hurt?!"_

He shook his head, then, remembering his grandfather couldn't see him, Yuugi murmured, "Ie... B-But... Grandpa, I know you're probably busy, but..." he sniffed, heart pulsing painfully as a tear slipped down his face. In the distance, he saw a few students glance at him sadly. "C-Could you maybe come pick me up early? It-It's really overwhelming here..."

There was a small pause, before the old man replied.

"_I'll be there in five minutes_," he promised, sounding sympathetic.

"G-Gomen..."

_"Don't apologize, Yuugi. I completely understand. I'll be there shortly."_

"Ar-Arigatõ, Jii-chan..."

There was a click as Sugoroku hung up. Yuugi knew he was probably grabbing his keys, putting up the 'out for lunch' sign, and locking up the shop. Relief filled him. He clutched his bag closer, legs folding up to his chest. The tears... they burned like acid down his cheeks, though left no visible marks. But in his heart, all the moisture he had cried out left scars. Long, gruesome, and ugly.

He swiped a sleeve over his face, trying to stifle a whimper.

"H-He'll be fine..." the boy repeated to himself like a mantra of lies, "Yami w-will be f-fine."

_'Mou Hitori no Boku...'_

He saw his grandpa pull up to the sidewalk. Yuugi glanced to the car sharply, as Sugoroku stepped out to go sign him out at the office. Not wanting to face the stares of his classmates as he passed, Yuugi simply went over the fence surrounding the courtyard. Tossing his bag carelessly over the chainlink, he glanced over his shoulder briefly.

He scowled at the sad, pitying glances turned his way. One person, however, quickly scurried off. Yuugi blinked, before easily jumping over the fence, and escaping behind the tinted windows of his grandfather's car.

_'Was that Ushio?'_

* * *

Upon arrival home, Yuugi did what he always did.

He holed himself up in his room, and grabbed an achingly familiar golden box, covered in hieroglyphic inscriptions...

It had been ages since the alabaster-pale child last had to solve the Puzzle, but love was his steely resolve. Love, and the promise of seeing Yami again. It hadn't even been a week since he woke up, but... Yuugi was already going mad. He could only think of Yami, though exhaustion quickly set in as the hours skimmed by like flower petals on the breeze.

His touch, his voice, his piercing eyes that bore into your soul when they looked at you. So soft, and warm, and gentle, like the Sun he and his kin had once lived beneath. Life-giving, but just as deadly as it was wholesome. Yuugi had seen his darker side, as well.

The pure power and rage that would sweep from his soul in suffocating waves. The scortching fires of Hell's vengeance that would dance in his smouldering gaze. It was possessive, and protecting, and obsessed. It had always sent chills up his spine.

Especially when that obsession was aimed at _him_.

He had only seen it a handful of times over the years, but it had been there, all the same.

On the gameboard of Monster World, when they had first met, face-to-face.

After the Duel against Pegasus.

When his soul had been claimed back from Dartz.

The Ceremonial Duel. And... on the boat ride back... The former-spirit had been practically hanging off his arm! Always touching him, whether it be on the arm or shoulder or side. That passionately burning stare. It was filled with what reminded Yuugi of lust and desire. In _complete_ honesty, he'd half-expected his other half to make a confession then. Of course, when he didn't, Yuugi lost some of his hope... But he never stopped loving his Darkness. Which...

Which had been the cause of this whole mess.

This was his fault.

Tremors danced up his body at the realization. The puzzle piece in his hand dropped to the desk with a clatter as tears built up in the eyes once again. "Ra _dammit_!" he shouted, head falling into his hands. "This is all my fault!"

_**/I'm so sorry, Mou Hitori no Boku!/**_

There was no reply, because his other half was sealed away in the shadows. All because of _**him**_.

Yuugi heard feet travelling with stiff quickness at some point, but he didn't care. The only thing he could focus on was his Yami, and the sobs that were shaking his body. Someone was talking, and he felt an aged hand clasp over his shoulder.

"I-It's all my _f-fault_, Jii-chan!" he bawled incoherently, "I-If I didn't- but I-I ca-can't _help_ it!"

He saw Sugoroku's concerned face, looking on the verge of tears, himself. "Yuugi, my sweet boy, what are you talking about?" he asked, hating to see his grandson so troubled and upset.

Yuugi blinked, pausing, eyes wide and heartbroken. He was wrapped into a hug by his only family, a strong hand rubbing circles over his back.

"It's my fault..." he whimpered, chest heaving as he tried to get air into his lungs. "If I didn't tell him... If I never felt this way... All of this could have been avoided." His hands clutched at his grandfather's shirt, "But I can't h-help it! I-I love him! I love him _so much_!"

The arms squeezed him tighter as he said this. "I know," Sugoroku murmured, "And he loves you, too, Yuugi. This isn't anyone's fault- just an unfortunate series of events."

Yuugi pulled back, and looked back to the Puzzle, its fragments scattered neatly over his desktop. He picked up the Eye piece gingerly._ 'Yami's... Yami's soul is in here...'_ he thought blankly, wiping at his eyes. His thumb brushed over it carefully. "What... what if he doesn't remember me? Or... if he does, what if he hates me? Because I made him send himself back?" He held the piece close, over his frantic heart.

"I... I don't... I _can't_ live without him. When he's gone... it-it _hurts_! It feels like my heart is torn into pieces, sewn back the wrong way, and then wrapped in barbed wire when it beats." It sounded dramatic, yes... But it was how he felt. "I feel..." his voice cracked, and trailed off.

The hand was back on his shoulder. "You feel what, Yuugi?"

He sniffled, pressing the Eye closer to his chest. "Nothing... Like _I'm_ nothing... without him. L-Life without Yami... It isn't _worth_ living."

He turned to his grandfather. "Jii-chan," he murmured, looking shattered and dazed, "I-If Atemu doesn't remember me... O-or if he hates me, I-I honestly..." he bit his lip, struggling to confess, "I-I'm honestly scared about what I might do!"

He saw confusion fill the old man's eyes. It, however, quickly flickered dawning realization, followed by horror and heartbreak. He was drawn into a strong, forceful hug. "N-No... Yuugi, _please_..." he murmured and guilt formed a painful bubble in Yuugi's throat when he felt a tear drip onto his shoulder from his grandfather's face, "Please, don't say that. Please don't think those thoughts... I just got you back. I can't have my grandson taken from me again."

Yuugi gripped the puzzle fragment tighter. "I can't help it..." he admitted, "Light... Light can't be without the Darkness..." Cold determination set in his eyes, making them seem dark and intimidating.

"I.. I have to fix this. I have to make things right."

He turned away from his Jii-chan as the hug ended, and began to fit the Millennium Puzzle together with a new fire in his eyes. He wasn't sure if Sugoroku had left, or if he was watching. Honestly, he didn't care. He only cared about Yami, and getting him back.

As the golden treasure clinked and tinked against itself as he struggled to get the pieces to fit, Yuugi found himself falling to memories.

Like when he'd been Dueling Bandit Keith, the American with a foul mouth. How the warehouse had caught on fire, and the Puzzle had been shattered. Rather than loosing the one he had loved even then, Yuugi had risked his own life. He remembered the crackling of flames, the suffocating smoke. The burn of golden bits as the heat from the fire warmed the precious metal in his fingers. Lingering hope, and with it, the suffering consciousness of his other half as his conduit and 'home' slowly burned with unbearable temperatures. He remembered not being able to work the chain it had been connected to from the wall, and his strength fading away.

**_Both _**of them had nearly perished in that fire. That, and many other times, as well.

Yuugi didn't notice his heavy eyelids as they fell. His suffering mind didn't put up a fight as slumber forced its way over the teen, and Yuugi's head rested next to a nearly-completed Sennen Puzzle.

The final shard was in his left hand, held close to his heart. The Eye flashed a small light, as if peering into the confines of the boy's soul.

_**/Yami... please remember me.../**_


	7. Tenshi no Namida

**Title: **_Mezameru_

**Pairing:**_ Puzzleshipping (Yuugi/Yami)_

**Rating:**_ T_

**Genre:**_ Angst, Drama, Friendship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance_

**Full Summary:**_ Yuugi is in a coma. His chances of survival balance on a mere mark of 35% How will his Yami cope when he thinks-no, when he KNOWS- that it is all his fault?_

* * *

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor ANY characters in this story, unless noted otherwise. I DO, however, own the plot of it. The Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime belong to Kazuki Takahashi-san.**_

**_Please do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor recreate my hard work in any way._**

**_Or I will sic Yami on you_**

* * *

_**WARNING(S): Mild Mentions of Blood and Nudity**_

* * *

_**~ Chapter VII ~**_

_Tenshi no Namida_

* * *

Darkness. Darkness all around. No Light. No hope. Cold...

_So cold._

It was all he registered, as his soul floated within a sea of black nothingness. Pain bought agonized tears to his eyes as another constricting chain dug into his flesh like razor wire. But he didn't bother screaming- the nameless soul's voice had died out, long ago.

Up his arm, carving into his bicep. Down his abdomen. Across his cheek.

Blood seeped slowly from spiritual wounds. But it amounted to nothing, compared to how he felt in his heart.

It felt empty. Colder and more alone than the Shadows around him.

_Can'tbreathesosocold..._

Were his eyes open, or closed? He couldn't tell. Complete Darkness enveloped his form.

_'Where is my Light?'_

It was the most coherent thought he had had this entire, Hellish ordeal. The Light... The Angel...

The warm, soft, loving, crying Guardian Angel.

He felt comfort in that memory. The only one he had.

Sweet, warm-air arms holding him. Skin white as the light it contained. Jagged, intriguing hair. Spiking up, like frozen Shadows, laced with blood, framed by electricity. Eyes purer than any gemstone or precious metal ore within the earth.

Diamond tears falling from a perfect face.

_**/-Mou Hitori no Boku!/**_

Yugioh stiffened within his chain confines, blinking barely-opened eyes wearily. He could... what... _What was that?_

_'L...Light...'_

A small orb of purity, dancing along in the distance like a singular firefly. It weaved, to and fro, with grace that was otherworldly, like rain across flower petals, before falling with small ripples into a glass-water pond. Disturbing the shadows and murk beneath the surface.

_'Sweet sweet Light...'_

And with its comforting embrace, Yugioh found himself able to see. To feel. To think.

He saw his own body, trapped in spiked chain links, digging into his bare flesh. Blood trickled down what he could see of his legs, body curled into a fetal position. His arms here bound before his chest, spattered in droplets of scarlet.

He wanted desperately to reach out, for that tantalizing Light. But it hurt. It hurt so _**bad**__!_

_'Come to me... my Little Light... I-I... I don't have the strength...'_

He felt sadness sweep over him, delicate noises that broke his heart sounding in his ears. Was the Angel crying again?

The sound of a pulse.

_**B-bmp. B-bmp. B-bmp.**_

The Light began to glow brighter. It darted and swirled like blinding fire. He felt the presence, in the back of his heart and mind.

_**/.../**_

Lingering hope. Tears. Flames. Heat. Pain. Pleading, begging to be left behind. _'Save yourself...' _he thought absently.

A... a memory?

He had been here before. The Light had saved him. Many, many times, the Light had saved him...

The Light was closer now, chasing away the chains. The Darkness around him shrieked, and shrank away slowly. His hands were free. A translucent manifestation of clothing began to cover his naked flesh.

_'Light... my Light... Hikari-mine...'_

Monsters and spells. Friendships. Rivalries. Blinding sun, burning heat. A land of desert sand and power. He had power. Sealed away... to save the world? A monster crafted by hate and magic. Sealed with his soul.

Heart... Heart... _Love._

The Light gave a golden flash... and he could see.

He saw them. This Angel, and his memories.

_'I want to be with you always... Even if I don't get my memories back.'_

_'M... Me too... Forever...'_

Smile. Tears.

_'I will... give you all of my memories.'_

His heart palpitated, a strange heat flooding his cheeks.

_Game._

That word kept popping into his thoughts.

_Game._

But... it seemed to hold a sort of importance to it. It sounded desperate, like the word _'Game'_ had a special meaning to it.

_Game._

No... not the **_word _**_'Game'_...

A name.

_Game._

_Yuugi._

_**/Darkness... please remember me.../**_

He blinked, feeling sleepy.

_Darkness? Darkness..._

_Yami... Hikari..._

_'Yu... Yuugi...'_ he thought, _'A-Aibou...'_

The Light's presence seemed to falter, and fade. _'No!'_ he wanted to shout, feeling the shadows wrap around him in a cold veil.

**_/I'll see you after school... my Yami./_**

'Iie! _No, no! Please, _tenshi_, don't leave! It's cold! It hurts! Come back, Yuugi! My Light, my Angel!_' Tears started to gather in dull crimson eyes.

He let out a hoarse, agonized scream as the Darkness began to conceal him again.

_'No! Please! I remember! I remember him! Let me go back, I __**need **__to see my Aibou!'_

He could feel the sadness and hopelessness Yuugi was feeling. He was near the breaking point. He saw... horrid, dark thoughts crossing his beloved's mind.

Ones of being hated. Forgotten.

Ones of suicide.

A voice broke through the Shadows.

_**"He needs you, Pharaoh."**_

_'He... he does...'_

_**"I've lost my wife, my children, my son-in-law, all before their time. Please, Yami... Grant my wish."**_

Yami blinked as he felt a tingling pressure in his chest.

_**"Go to Yuugi. Save my grandson."**_

A shuttering noise clanged around the dank environment of the Puzzle's insides. It sent reverberations through Yami's very soul.

The last piece had been placed.

The Sennen Puzzle's power of Unity would bring two lost souls together, once again.

* * *

**ONE CHAPTER LEFT! WOO! ;D**

**I hope you enjoyed this little chapter. Sorry if the last two have been a little boring ^^;**

**And YES, Yami was naked. I figured, since he didn't have any memories, about _anything..._ Yeah. Don't judge me.**

**Just enjoy it.**

***small nosebleed***

* * *

**Also, quick shout-out to an AMAZING author I found today. Auster.**

**Seriously, guys, go read his fanfiction _Phoenix's Ashes._ It made me cry.**

**Read it.**

_**Now.**_

* * *

**Reviews please! _Show me your love!_ :D**


	8. Tsuneni

**The last chapter of Mezameru...**

**Wow... I've been working on this thing for... probably over a year now, since I first posted the original story. o.o**

**DAMN. I NEVER thought I'd finish this thing! XD**

**You know what song I found that fits this story PERFECTLY? Anthem of the Angels, by Breaking Benjamin. You'd think I based the entire Radamned story off that song! But today was probably the FIRST time I have EVER heard it! Listen to it, it is PERFECT fir Mezameru's theme song, or something! XD**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

**Title: **_Mezameru_

**Pairing:**_ Puzzleshipping (Yuugi/Yami)_

**Rating:**_ T_

**Genre:**_ Angst, Drama, Friendship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance_

**Full Summary:**_ Yuugi is in a coma. His chances of survival balance on a mere mark of 35% How will his Yami cope when he thinks-no, when he KNOWS- that it is all his fault?_

* * *

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor ANY characters in this story, unless noted otherwise. I DO, however, own the plot of it. The Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime belong to Kazuki Takahashi-san.**_

**_Please do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor recreate my hard work in any way._**

**_Or I will sic Yami on you_**

* * *

**_WARNING(S): Possible Mild Triggering Material. Some Violence._**

* * *

**_~ Chapter VIII ~_**

_Tsuneni_

* * *

_'After school,'_ he kept thinking, _'I will finish the Puzzle after school.'_

After all, there was only one piece left. The Eye. Why wait? Because he was scared... He was scared Yami wouldn't remember. Or worse- he'd hate Yuugi for making him return to the Hell he'd already spent over three millennia in. The teen blinked, walking slowly through the halls of Domino High School. He ignored the staring, as usual. He couldn't, however, ignore the whispers.

"He looks so sad..."

"It's a real shame what happened to them."

"Can't help but feel bad for him, y'know? I always thought the King of Games was untouchable."

"Guess he's taking Yami's death pretty hard, _né_?"

Yuugi stopped abruptly. He heard hisses of "_baka_!" at the kid, growls to be quiet, but Yuugi had already heard.

"Yami isn't dead."

His tone was chilling, and empty. Like his eyes.

"He wouldn't leave like that. He wouldn't... he wouldn't forget..." that last part was more to himself, than anyone else. The group set him glances full of pity. It made him angry.

"Mutou."

The pale teen stiffened. "Not now, Ushio," he growled, fists clenched. Everyone immediately backed up, memory of Yami's encounter with the bully still fresh in their minds. And right now, the smaller looked like a carbon-copy of his best friend and Dueling partner.

Ushio had no malice in his eyes when Yuugi turned his head to look at him. "_Iie_, I wanted to apologize."

The whole hallway, Yuugi included, deadpanned. "_N-Nande_?" the amethyst-eyed teen stammered, not believing his ears. Ushio shrugged heavy shoulders.

"I was wrong about you, kid," he said simply, "I thought... you were weak. Like you didn't understand what the rest of the world went through. Since you were on a pedestal. King of Games is a big thing, _né_? So.. _ano_... _Gomen_."

Yuugi blinked, suspicion in his eyes.

"Sorry?" he repeated. Ushio gave a weak nod. "You... really..." everyone flinched as his eyes narrowed, a dark violet. "You really expect me to just _forgive_ you? After all the shit you've put Yami and I through?"

His voice was bitter and crisp as a winter storm. It didn't suit him at all. "You're the reason he was such a mess the day after my accident, aren't you?" Ushio's eyes widened.

"_Ano_..."

"Called me a 'piss-ant', didn't you? _Né_, did I get enough fucking _beauty sleep _to fit your standards? Or- how 'bout a game of _'Run-and-Hit'_? Sound **_fun_**?!"

The bully retreated a few steps. "How do you..."

Yuugi snorted. "Look, I may have been in a coma, but I wasn't DEAD. Do you _really _think the other half of my soul could hide something like that from me? Something that caused him so much pain, and anger?" His question was rhetorical, and dangerous. Yuugi's usually-sweet voice was laced with venom.

Ushio's gaze flickered with confusion. "Other half of..._ N-Nani_?" Yuugi merely crossed his arms, distaste reflecting between the two. He looked like and exact copy of Yami, oozing confidence and rebellion.

The hulking bully turned with a disgusted grunt. "Faggot."

Yuugi's bag swung with a flash, and hit him squarely in the back of his neck and head. He stumbled, and turned with a snarl. But, his step faltered.

Narrow heliotrope eyes glared at him, dancing with the darkness both his heart and mind contained. A hot, yet somehow chilling, crimson... like Yami's eyes. A mixture of both Yuugi's and Yami's eyes. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Yuugi muttered with frightening calm. He smirked wickedly.

"You haven't forgotten about _Our_ game, already, have you?"

Ushio paled, and scurried away. Yuugi slung his bag over a shoulder, and stormed down the hall. He felt content with this building anger and pain. However, his fists still itched to hit something. He substituted by clenching them at his sides.

* * *

Lessons went by with their usual, boring drawl. He even ignored the teacher during their History unit, which was focusing on Ancient Egypt. Everyone knew of the boy's passion for the subject. It was also Yami's, though, for some strange reason, he seemed to get rather defensive during certain debates... Yuugi smiled faintly at the memory.

_'Tyrannical?!_' Yami had exclaimed during an argument with the substitute teacher on Egyptian Pharaohs._ 'Most Pharaohs were the exact opposite! Sure, there were a few bad ones in the bunch, but... everyone has that problem. I mean, everyone thought they were the living incarnate of Ra or Atum, for- er-... Ra's sake...'_ he had stumbled awkwardly at that part. _'Anyways, you know, their high Gods? Ra, the Sun, and Atum, the Creator of All Life on Earth? So, they would tend to be worshipped. As long as they ruled Khemet fairly and justly, what's the big deal?'_

Yuugi stifled a giggle when he remembered how the teacher, thinking he was being smart, had ordered _Yami _to come up and teach the History lesson that day. Undeterred, the _former Egyptian Pharaoh_ had obliged.

Never before had the class had such high marks for their History grades.

_'If only they knew...'_ he murmured to himself with diluted amusement. Sure, it had been funny, but the memory brought pain to his heart. Yami... Would they ever have moments like that again?

His head rested in folded arms with a sigh. What little enjoyment he have managed to scour up in their memories quickly died down to nothing but pure misery. No, he thought, that wasn't the right word for it. Simply being miserable... what Yuugi was feeling had surpassed that cheap little adjective long ago.

It was beyond the worst of agonies he had even come across. Even more so than in the Shadow Duel again Marik, when his body was slowly sent, piece by piece to the Shadow Realm. Bending, twisting aimlessly through dimensional planes, yet still _attached _to his living body, and fully functional.

Words couldn't begin to describe the pain he was in.

_'Oh, Gods, please... Just make it stop!'_

The wish for death quickly overtook his mind.

He would feel numb forever, should it happen.

He just wanted to be numb. Not tomorrow, or tonight, after his grandfather had fallen asleep.

_NOW._

It had only been a week... and Yuugi already wanted to go back to sleep...

* * *

Yuugi jumped when the dismissal bell rang, like a grating scream in his ears. As students and staff, alike, began to pack away the day's materials and head for home, Yuugi Mutou took his dear, sweet time. He waved off his friends with a minuscule smile, and was sure to count to thirty before following them out into the hallway.

His legs moved to their own accord. Against what little struggle his mind was putting up. The light... it had vanished completely. Leaving his amethyst eyes so dark, the shade could have been classified as kin to black.

Up the stairwell. Through a metal doorway.

A fresh breeze. The falling sun. A sky painted in fire.

It was quite beautiful. _'My final sights... It's... perfect.'_ Yuugi's senses had dulled. He felt as if this were a dream. Just one big, bad dream. One that, when he woke, he'd be in Yami's arms. Or waking up in the hospital to see his family, happy and _whole_, waiting to greet him.

His fingers fed through the gaps of chain-link, staring without a single hope to the blood-red sun, sinking steadily down to the horizon. _'Gods, what am I even doing? Yami would be heartbroken, if he were here...'_

Something in his chest winced painfully.

_'Yeah. _if_, he were here.'_

He wouldn't take the chance. He couldn't live to see hatred or blankness in his beloved's smoldering crimson gaze.

The building of Domino High School towered four stories above the concrete. And there was a hole in the fence. A place which Yuugi's deadened amethyst eyes kept flickering to. Just... off the side of the building... Away from the eyes of others. His shoes were quiet as he absently stumbled to the place that would bring him sanctuary. His bag dropped to the ground, pulse excelling with both mortification and sick eagerness.

_'Do I... really want to do this...?'_

Maybe he'd go to Yami, in the Millennium Puzzle. Or maybe he'd just rot away in the Shadows of his heart.

_'Shadows,_' he realized quickly, body squeezing involuntarily past the clingy metal fencing. Shadows... fed on despair, and negativity. Anguish. Heartache. With Yami sealed, and unable to control them... By _using _them to set Yuugi free...

_They had attached themselves to him._

He leaned outwards, fingers clinging into the linked fence as he looked blankly below him. _'No...'_ his mind murmured weakly. _'W... Wait...'_

But he felt cold. So very, very cold, here. By himself. He needed to be with the Dark Angel of his dreams and nightmares.

_**'Follow Us, Little Master,' **_the Shadows soothed like a cooling balm,_** 'We shalt take thee to wheresoever thy Heart most desires.'**_

He heard a voice, somewhere, from the Outside.

_'Jou... Jounouchi... kun?'_ Yuugi thought.

**_'Come hither, precious, Little Master of Light,_**' They insisted quickly as Yuugi blinked, dazedly. He shook his head lightly, as more voices began to call up to him. _**'Thy sanctum is nigh. Follow Us. To thy Heart's Darkest desire.'**_

"Yuug'!"

"Yuugi, what the _Hell_ are you doing?!"

"Get _back_, you dumbass!"

Yuugi shook his head again, eyes squeezing shut, groaning as if in pain. There... were people below... His friends... Looking up. Pleading to him.

_**'Release thy hold to cruel life, sweet Light. Utter unto the world thy suffering, and release thy hold on truculent world's burdens.'**_

His foot stepped back, Yuugi's eyes flying wide in realization. His back flung itself against the rattling metal fence, quaking in his shoes. _'N-No...'_ he managed weakly, a tear tracing down his all-to-pale cheek.

_**'All is well, Light. Step forward. Embrace thy solace.'**_

He was still, chest heaving for air that refused to come. He heard something pounding at the door, beyond the chain-linked border behind him.

_**'Dost thou not wish to see thy lover again?'**_ Yuugi winced. The Shadows were cruel. So very cruel.

_'I do,'_ he replied at once, _'Oh, Gods, I want to see him again!'_

**_'Step closer, dear Master. Acquiesce to Our request. Embrace Darkness with open arms, heart and soul.'_**

They began to snake down from his body, unbeknown to Yuugi's mind. Black began to edge and lay heavy filter over his eyesight, as concrete below him began to crumble away...

His hands tightened into fists over the barrier his back pressed to with almost painful force.

He took a step back. Back towards the gap he had come from. Encouraging, but still terrified calls rang from his friends below.

_'I... can't... I won't... do it...'_

_**'Weak, insolent little whelp!'**_ the Darkness howled with deafening anger in his mind at his refusal. The stone cracked. It crumbled away.

His footing slipped.

In a single, heart-stopping moment, Yuugi felt his weight and sense of reality shift as it was thrown to the wind. There were screams.

There was a small feeling of free-fall.

_'Gods, I'm going to die, aren't I?!'_

**_\Yuugi!\_**

He hit the ground a surprisingly short time later, with a huff, the air forced from his lungs.

Ache, but no pain.

He inhaled a shaky breath.

Yuugi's pulse thrummed frantically beneath his skin.

Warmth.

Yuugi opened his shocked eyes. There were arms, around his waist and chest. Holding him, cradling him, to a solid chest.

In a crushing wave, the scents of sand and spice and shadow attacked his senses. A breath, deep in tone, warm and moist in feeling, panting into his ear. Sending shivers down his spine. Fingers, clutching possessively at his skin. Lips, warm and slightly chapped, pressed to his neck.

Completeness filled him on waves of love and fear and pure _obsession _sent into his head like a crushing tide.

His fingers moved, closing over the hand that pressed above his palpitating heart.

_**/A... Atem.../**_

The reply was hoarse, and thick with emotion, the figure curling more tightly around them on the rooftop of Domino High.

_**\Yuugi...\**_

He gasped softly at the sound of his love's mental voice. A deep rumble, like distant thunder.

The taller of the pair eased them into a sitting position, thought his hands refused to release their hold on his smaller duplicate. The shape of their Millennium Puzzle, hung by chain from Yami's neck, pressed to the small of Yuugi's back. Fully completed.

"What... what happened?" he murmured quietly, shivering with the knowledge that something dark had nearly taken place. That, or it was about to.

"You don't remember?" Yami murmured, voice hushed and scared.

Yuugi blinked, turning to stare into the intoxicating ruby jewels he loved so deeply. "_Iie_," he murmured, before quietly adding, "You... _do_?" It was scared, reluctant, yet hopeful.

"_Hai_. I remember, Hikari." His lips suddenly left a heated pressure on Yuugi's. It sent shudders and tingles down Yuugi's spine. "How," Yami murmured, placing another quick kiss to the smaller's cheek, "How could I ever have forgotten-" another to his neck. An involuntary whimper left the teen's chest. "-_this_?"

A blush quickly rose to Yuugi's cheeks at the deep husk his Other Self's voice had taken. He hid it by burying his face in the fabric of Yami's uniform jacket. (_Where had that come from? he briefly pondered.)_

A silent mixture of acceptance, realization, forgiveness, longing, and countless other emotions passed between the pair in their solitary minutes together. They could both sense their friends, pounding up the stairwells to the two. It was ignored.

Yuugi's arms quickly wrapped over his Darkness' torso. Long, muscled limbs of Yami's returned the gesture whole-heartedly. As Yuugi snuggled to his Mou Hitori no Boku's chest, Yami buried his face in the junction of his Mou Hitori no Ore's neck and shoulder. Tears glistened silently down sharp cheekbones, while the slim shoulders below heaved with quiet sobs.

The beings that had flown so quickly to their position had stopped at the doorway to the roof, watching the scene before them with relieved, hopeful smiles, with lingering traces of sadness for the grief the pair had been forced to face.

"You're back..." Yuugi breathed harshly through his joyful, relieved weeping.

"_Hai_, Yuugi. I am back."

"...how?"

"Jii-chan made a wish," was the simple, cryptic reply.

Yuugi shifted, moving to press his ear over where Yami's heart pulsed. The slow, rhythmic beat sent him into a relaxed daze. His own would pulsate along in harmony. Two hearts, beating in perfect sync. Bonded in more ways than one.

Mental. Spiritual. Emotional.

Eternal.

"I missed you," Yuugi murmured, cleaning into the warmth and basking in his Dark Side's presence.

"I missed you, as well, Yuugi." The reply was loving and gentle.

"_Aishiteru_, Yami..."

"I love you, too, Yuugi... my Aibou, my Guardian Angel, my Light..."

They shifted again, in unison, pressing more comfortably, more closely, to one another.

"Always, and forever, Aibou."

Finally... after nearly a month of the two's own, personal Hell, it was over.

Each was back where they belonged.

By each other's side.

* * *

***Collapses, panting***  
**It's... over... Finally, it's over... I spent nearly TWO WEEKS trying to figure a way to write this bitch after I finished chapter seven. Be grateful I even GOT to it at all! XD**

**Personally, I kind of like this ending. A little tiny bit anticlimactic, but... I think it fits. With just simple, quietly, tearful cuddling in the twilight...**

**Wow... Did you guys know that it has been over a year and a half since I first started drafting/plotting out this story? _SWEET MOTHER OF RA, FINALLY IT'S DONE._**

**But in all honesty, I'm also a little sad to see this one being wrapped up. It WAS my first serious Puzzleshipping fanfiction, after all. Its been my baby for quite a while now. :')**

**NOTE: There will be one more chapter after this, but it won't be the actual STORY. It will he about the chapter and story names, along with their translations and the meanings behind them. Pretty much why I named them what I did. If it doesn't interest you, oh well. Just skip it.**

**You know... in actually tearing up a little bit here. Anyone else? .^^.**

* * *

**Review, because you love me and this story. ;)**


	9. SOPA WARNING! PLEASE READ!

**CALLING ALL AUTHORS, ARTISTS AND FANS FROM AROUND THE WORLD!**

**SOPA IS BACK BITCHES!**

I found this out from several other authors on this website.

In is an important notice that will affect everyone on this sit and many others.

I got a message from a fellow writer shadowwriter329 and saw more note and messages from even more, that SOPA is back. The bill that is threatening to take away our freedoms on the internet is back. Not only back, but it is trying to be passed quietly so nobody notices. SOPA will guarantee that anybody who streams a video, whether it be on youtube, a walkthrough for a video game, or a kid singing a song that is 'copyrighted' they will be treated as a felon. That is one of the highest form of criminal offensives for something as simple as uploading a video game walkthrough on youtube, playing a song with lyrics of your favorite artist and even one we all go on, this one right here.

I am telling everyone this because it effect us all here as Wattpad/FanFiction will being attacked as well. A Wattpad/FanFiction writer can being carted off to a maximum state prison for writing a character from Naruto into their fanfic, or a character from Bleach, or a character from One Piece, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the list is endless. You think I an exaggerating? I assure you that if this passes it will not be long, not be long at all, because once this passes, then anything goes. Wattpad/FanFiction will be attacked for using canon characters in a fanon manner, authors will be arrested for writing a book whose main character has glasses just like in another series, artists will be arrested and confined for using sapphire blue in the iris of one of their characters like another author. This effect us all and we can not let it happen.

I figure some of you do not believe me and I can understand. I could be making this up for all you know. But I provided links below to show you I am telling the truth. Simply remove the spaces below, see for yourself.

: / www . huffingtonpost 2013/08/07/unauthorized-streaming-felony_n_3720479 . html

: / www . washingtonpost blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/05/sopa-died-in-2012-b ut-obama-administration-wants-to-revive-part-of-it /

: / www . techdirt articles/20130805/12472124074/administration-cant- let-go-wants-to-bring-back-felony-streaming-provis ions-sopa . shtml

: / www . youtube watch?v=1fTt4K4Cae4

We are not as powerless as we might think. We stopped SOPA before and we must do it again. Our stories, our ideas, our passion will be threaten. Everything from this to fan art to youtube is in danger of being gone forever.

I am asking you to spread the word and fight this assault on our freedoms. Because this isn't just going to affect Americans, it will affect everybody across the globe. Tell you friend, have they spread the word so we may stand up to fight this. It is our right as freedom of speech. We are not making money doing what we love, we do it because we enjoy it and want to spread our words, our ideas, our art to everyone who wishes to see it. but we can stop it but only if we stand together. Please my friends, my fellow reader and writers, don't let what we love be nothing but dust in the winds of time.

-Please spread the word and help us be free on the internet like she said we stopped it before lets do it again come darlings lets push SOPA back fight for our freedom!

Rewrite this and post on your story chapters for everyone else to see so we can stop SOPA!

SIGN THIS PETITION TO HELP STOP SOPA:

(Remove spaces)

petitions. whitehouse. gov/ petition/ stop-sopa-2013/ LMzMVrQF


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